Perfect send off for St Pat’s Ian Bermingham
ST PATRICK’S Athletic gave Ian Bermingham a perfect send off at Richmond Park on Sunday with a 4-0 win over Shelbourne in their final game of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division season reports Daire Walsh.
Following more than 12 years of service, Bermingham announced at the end of August that the 2022 campaign was to be his last as a Pat’s player. The Ballyfermot native first joined the Saints back in January 2010, after previously enjoying stints at UCD and Shamrock Rovers.
He only just missed out on securing silverware with the latter – the Hoops finished second to Bohemians in the 2009 top-flight – but tasted success on several occasions in Inchicore. In addition to winning the Premier Division in 2013, Bermingham also won two FAI Cups (2014, 2021), two League of Ireland Cups (2015, 2016), the President of Ireland’s Cup (2014) and three Leinster Senior Cups (2011, 2014, 2019).
Appointed club captain in 2017, he lifted the FAI Cup trophy when Pat’s defeated Dublin rivals Bohemians on penalties at the Aviva Stadium a little under 12 months ago.
Despite not being a regular starter, Bermingham still managed to fit in 12 appearances during 2022. He was introduced as a half-time substitute in Richmond last weekend for his 454th club outing before being withdrawn two minutes from time so he could be afforded a standing ovation from the Saints faithful.
While Pat’s were already out of the reckoning for a top-three finish in advance of Shels paying a visit to Inchicore, manager Tim Clancy would have been satisfied to end his first season at the helm on a positive note.
Firhouse’s Eoin Doyle returned to the League of Ireland this year after spending the previous decade in either England or Scotland and he bagged a brace of goals to bring his seasonal tally up to 14. Anthony Breslin found the net prior to making way for Bermingham and Ben McCormack was also on target against a Shels side that understandably had one eye on Sunday’s FAI Cup final duel with Derry City.
Although the Saints finished one point off their total from last year (62), crucially they have dipped from second to fourth place in the final table. This puts them out of contention for an automatic UEFA Europa Conference League play-off spot, but a win for Derry in this weekend’s FAI Cup final would grant them passage into Europe for 2023.
Alongside Bermingham and Doyle, Pat’s had local representation in the form of Joe Redmond and Jason McClelland this season.
A part of Jim Crawford’s Republic of Ireland U21 set-up, Kilnamanagh’s Redmond was a virtual ever-present in the Saints defence having followed Clancy from Drogheda United last December. McClelland was also a prominent fixture for Pat’s after being one of the heroes in that FAI Cup decider victory over Bohemians in 2021.
He was previously part of the youth ranks at Shamrock Rovers, Templeogue United, Peamount United and Crumlin United before spending five years at UCD and three years (to date) at the Saints.