Rank outsiders Longford Town managed to secure survival as the only semi-professional club in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division in 2027. However, the positives of survival were countered by the club’s board refusing to go professional or allow manager Trebor Mahtal to start his next coaching course.
Mahtal moved on players who weren’t committed to his cause. Winger Josh Giurgi joined Canada’s Valour FC for £95k and striker Rob Manley was one of nine players released, and their replacements included six of the eight best players at the club. The star signings were total gambles on two Polish youngsters, striker Ryszard Neumann for up to £17.5k from Kotwica and winger Cezary Rop for £10k from Stal St Wola. How his scouts had discovered those players was anyone’s guess, considering they were limited to scouting in Ireland.
Joining them was goalkeeper Jack Bradley, who’d spent the previous two seasons at the club on loan from Shamrock, Bermuda international right back Kamen Jennings from Cardiff Met Uni, Haiti striker Frantz Pierrot from relegated Galway and winger Conan Noonan from Shamrock. Mahtal loaned in midfielders Gareth Deegan and Joey Keating from Bohemians and Cork and promoted the only star of their recent youth intake right back Maxime Charbonnel.
Signing two strikers with the promise of being star players forced Mahtal into a tactical shift. He decided to revert to a 3-5-2 with ‘wingy midfielders’ operating as mezzalas to get crosses into the big man Pierrot. It would also require one of his 5ft 9in full backs to convert to play as a wide centre back.
Second Season In Ireland’s Top Flight
The bookies slashed Longford’s title odds from 1000/1 to 200/1. And Mahtal was quietly confident, given most of his starting 11 was now considered at least “good” Premeir Division players. Newly promoted Wexford were favourites for relegation and Shamrock were 5/6 favourites to retain their title followed by Derry (13/1), who nearly got relegated last season, Shelbourne (10/1) and Waterford (13/1).
The new approach didn’t start brilliantly as they got dominated by St. Pat’s but gradually got back into the game and new captain Shane Elworthy nicked a late equaliser. A trip to Wexford followed and Longford just about edged it before Pierrot’s penalty secured a 1-0 win before Neumann’s first goal led a 2-1 win over Derry, Keating nicked a 1-1 at Shelbourne. The tactic began to tick as Neumann and Pierrot earned a solid 2-0 win over Waterford and Pierrot scored twice in a 3-2 win at Cork. A big test of their strong start saw the visit of leaders Shamrock and they started brilliantly as Neumann won a penalty after 50 seconds and Pierrot smashed it in. Elsworthy was injured by a shocking challenge the dodgy ref somehow didn’t get the yellow card out for; Shamrock equalized and went on to dominate and win it through a dodgy penalty and a red card for Kacper Radkowski. However, the performance offered plenty of optimism.
Longford drew 15 games last season – one short of the league record set back in 1981 – and looked hell-bent on challenging that. Rop’s brilliant goal of the month-winning free kick earned a 1-1 at Bohemians and Charbonnel became the youngest goalscorer in club history, aged 16 years 197 days, to earn the same scoreline at Sligo. Neumann’s late brace earned a 4-2 home win over Wexford and they kicked on a level with a superb 3-0 win at St. Pat’s, which lifted Longford to the heady heights of 2nd place!
The formation continued to perform magic led by the exciting Rop, who bagged an assist hat trick in a 4-1 romping of Wexford. That sent Longford into a month-long break still in 2nd place, only trailing Shamrock by 2 points – and they would have been top if a tired side hadn’t lost 1-0 at home to St. Pat’s.
Outside Title Shot?
Mahtal was adamant that Longford were nowhere near ready to compete for the Irish title, but was very pleased with the progress his young semi-pro squad had made. They resumed with three successive draws before being unlucky to only draw 2-2 at home to Shamrock then Neumann’s brace earned the same result at Shelbourne. The winless streak stretched to seven games with a rotated team losing 4-3 loss at Bohemians before Pierrot’s strike finally ended it to secure a 1-0 win over Wexford.
Longford continued their draw-happy campaign with five more in the final two months, which saw them secure an impressive 4th-place finish. And that meant qualification for the Europa Conference League qualifiers. They finished on 60 points, 21 more than last season, after 15 wins, 15 draws and a league-low 6 defeats, scoring 66 and conceding 48 (11 more and 17 fewer than last season). Pierrot was the 3rd-top scorer with 19 in 31, Rop got the 2nd-most assists with 14 and Bradley surprisingly got the most clean sheets with 9. At the other end, 2025 champions Waterford, who finished 2nd and 3rd in the last two seasons, got relegated as they lost the playoff to Galway!
Irish Cup Run
Mahtal felt Longford had a great shot at the Sports Direct FAI Cup, considering it was won by second-tier Bray Wanderers last season and Shamrock suffered a shock 4-2 exit to Bohemians in the first round. Longford cruised past Athenry 7-1, Treaty 3-0 and UCD 4-2 to reach the semis. They then faced Derry while two First Division sides clashed in the other semi as Dundalk took on Finn Harps. Longford got a flyer as Neumann raced through and calmly chipped the keeper after 50 seconds. The striker doubled the tally with a superb low drive from 20 yards just before halftime and wrapped up his hat trick just after the hour mark to send his team into the final.
That win meant Mahtal was 90 minutes away from ticking off the second letter of his Alphabet Challenge. Standing in his way was second-tier but 12-times cup winners Dundalk as the two sides went head-to-head with just 9,125 people turning up at the 51,700-capacity Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Jennings picked up a knock, so Mahtal lined up:
Bradley; Elworthy, O’Brien, Radkowski, Offord, Noonan; Doyle; Rop, Nolan; Pierrot, Neumann
Subs: Kozar, Byrne, Jennings, Devitt, Keogh, Allen, Charbonnel, O’Connor, Evans
Longford started poorly and were made to pay after half an hour. But they grew into the game and equalised as Neumann was brought down and Alex Nolan tucked away the penalty. Longford continued to dominate and great play by Rop laid on a simple tap-in for Neumann before a brilliant passing move ended with Nolan sending Rop in for a third. And Longford cruised to a cup success.
Longford won their third Irish Cup!
Four Years Down, Two Letters Ticked Off
Mahtal was delighted with his team’s efforts this season, enjoying a much-improved league performance and getting a little luck to stroll to the Irish Cup. The signings of Pierrot, Neumann and Rop proved absolutely inspired. Neumann and Pierrot shared 44 goals and 12 assists while Rop led the way with 16 assists plus 10 goals. Nolan chipped in with 9 goals and 5 assists and Doyle bagged 11 assists.
The cup success meant Mahtal’s time in Ireland was done as he added L to S in being ticked off his Alphabet Challenge. Mahtal leaves Langford after 853 days in charge, in which he led them in 96 games, winning 40, drawing 32 and losing 24, scoring 180 and conceding 141 with a 41% win ratio. But it was now time to go in search of club number three.
Which letter would Mahtal have to tick off next? And where in the world would he end up? Join us on Friday to find out!
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