With help from the Football Association of Ireland, Dublin rivals Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers have announced details for their first fixture against one another for the 2025 season opening weekend. The match will be played in the Aviva Stadium on Sunday the 16th of February at 2pm.
This event will mark the 110th anniversary of the first fixture of the historic rivalry that has brought us ferocious football for the past number of years. The teams have not met in a Cup Final since 1945, so this will be the biggest setting for the fixture in 80 years. The event is likely to attract crowds not seen to the league since the 1960s.
Last year, the first meeting between both teams at Tallaght Stadium attracted a crowd of over 10,000, something that had not been seen in the League of Ireland this century. Aviva Stadium has hosted the FAI Cup Final every year since 2010, with record crowds piling in every November.
Bohemians have forgone their home fixture on the condition that their fans get the larger South Stand end where they held for their last two cup finals in 2021 and 2023 respectively. Shamrock Rovers will be given the smaller North end. This will mark the first time a League of Ireland fixture will ever take place on the grounds of Lansdowne Road since its inception in 1921.
Bohemians finished eighth last season, following the replacement of their previous manager Declan Devine with former Ireland U21s assistant manager Alan Reynolds. The North Dublin club will look to have a change of fortunes and aim for European places next season.
Shamrock Rovers finished second to Shelbourne in their quest for an historic 5 league titles in a row. The Hoops are currently in European competition, playing Rapid Vienna in the UEFA Conference League this week. Should they qualify for the knockout stage of the Conference League, they will be playing Thursday the 13th of February, just three days before this historic opening fixture.
The domestic season will kick off a week prior on February the 7th in Tolka Park as Premier Division champions Shelbourne will take on FAI Cup winners Drogheda United in the 11th Annual Presidents Cup, the usual curtain raiser for the League of Ireland season.