Darragh Leahy Signed for Linfield, is he any good, is CB is best position, basically can you tell me anything about him?
Darragh Leahy Signed for Linfield, is he any good, is CB is best position, basically can you tell me anything about him?
The Hallion Battalion Molests football.:D
I never would thought it would be a defender as the first to break that six figure record. Shels are pretty much exchanging most or if not all of the transfer fee received for Lewis Temple but O'Brien and the Jamestown analytics gurus must be confident in his ability with potential increased resale value to the UK marketOriginally Posted by 2 Year Contract
The Leinster Senior League needs a strong Bohemians
Was excellent for Bohs up late 10's, not sure he showed same form at Dundalk for 4 years from 2019 but he did win FAI Cup in 2020 with us. Decent left full, likes to get forward, personally I liked his style, also filled in as centre half during a covid ravaged period and did very well. I probably expected a little bit more, but that was a serious Dundalk side 2019 - 2021.
I'd say he'll do a decent job for Linfield.
#DundalkFC - First Irish club to win an away game in Europe (1963), only Irish club to win a game / points in Europa League Group Stage (2016).
Didn't realise how young he still is, only 27. Feels like he's been around for ages now.
Not really what I meant by "mad" Nesta but I don't think it was transfer fees paid that buried various clubs. More the wage bills incurred. Even Dundalk at the height of their insanity weren't splashing huge sums to bring players in were they? The fact that 80k was the previous record and it took 20 years to break it with a fee of 115k sort of speaks to that. The highest fee paid in the Welsh league is 226k by comparison and the clubs we are considering our "peers" in the conference league spend way more. See Celje as an example. When you consider the transfer fees received by Irish clubs have been growing steadily, it was only a matter of time before a club spent north of 100k but that it took us 20 years to get here is.....a bit mad.
I expect the new record to be broken within the next few years, rather than the next 20.
Last edited by ontheotherhand; 15/01/2026 at 11:37 AM.
George O'Callaghan could be moving close to Bohs. Sad to read. https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/c...-41775788.html
"oh my, that was some beer we had last night, I think I feel like getting sick" Effin Eddie
Dundalk were indeed paying transfer fees and its wasnt as if there was return on invetment. i know its a combination of factor but imo when a club start to feel they have cah to pay out in transfers especially sozeable ones, it marks the start of almost a financial arrogance that this is sustainable. Drogs, Shels, Dundalk need Europe year on year to be paying 6 fiqure transfers and we know how that might pan out. Unless you have billionaire owners that could bankroll a few lean years......or fans have viable plans b, c and d
Sad to see, but I do enjoy the fact his solicitor is a Mr. Buttimer.
But you weren't breaking the 80k record. You were spending mad money on wages, with double the wage bill of any other club in the league.Dundalk were indeed paying transfer fees and its wasnt as if there was return on invetment. i know its a combination of factor but imo when a club start to feel they have cah to pay out in transfers especially sozeable ones, it marks the start of almost a financial arrogance that this is sustainable. Drogs, Shels, Dundalk need Europe year on year to be paying 6 fiqure transfers and we know how that might pan out. Unless you have billionaire owners that could bankroll a few lean years......or fans have viable plans b, c and d
You also weren't receiving any fees. Rovers have made 7.5m in transfer fees. Shels just made a fair amount as well. So as that grows, of course the other side will too.
Not having a go at Dundalk here btw. Sounds like an I am TBF but things have changed. Big difference between banking on Europe and planning accordingly given the Conference League option.
100k for a player who isn't coming in on mad wages (and is actually going to play unlike the lads Dundalk brought in) makes a bit more sense, especially if you expect to receive a fee later on and you've just done well in Europe.
The strangest thing I've heard on the budget side is that James Clarke is now the leagues highest earner. Would love to know if that's true by the source was reliable enough. Crazy if so.
Last edited by ontheotherhand; 15/01/2026 at 8:31 PM.
I have to agree with the above, this doesn't actually seem like some of the reckless spending of the past to me.
€100k is the equivalent of paying another players wages for the year, and they've probably took that into account and felt is was worth it to get a young promising player who has a reasonable chance of commanding more than that in a transfer fee in the future.
It was an area they badly needed to strengthen, and the player is highly regarded and I can only assume on a multi-year contract, without the wages being ridiculous either.
I would say Clarke is on very very good wages for the LOI but like most people I have heard several different weekly wages thrown about from £2000 - 4000 a week. So I would take it all with a pinch of salt
Confirmed now
Good signing. Although it be some sort of LOI record that Derry have now paid a fee for the second time for a lad that they’ve let go twice in his career. Also both times they bought him was from Sligo too
Last edited by 2 Year Contract; 16/01/2026 at 12:08 PM.
Paaatrick's Agletic
Has there ever been a playerr let go twice and then transferred back twice, never mind by the same clubs and in LoI?
Don't know what the record is, but it feels like it definitely belongs in Italy somehow.
MOD EDIT: Posts moved to 2026 thread at request of MoydowMonty.
Last edited by nigel-harps1954; 16/01/2026 at 3:52 PM.
I didnt include Rovers due to their youth setup and having players on more than single year rolling contracts which to everyone else says 'I want to move but just havent had a better offer yet'. Exclude the mad chariman and Zahibo stuff with Dundalk. There was still a reliance on European qualification to join the financial dots even with 2 Europa League group qualifications. Prize money goes up and ECL group money is significant but in the context of the cost of running a club it is barely cover for a lean year. When a club breaks a domestic transfer record, even at 100k, I think its an indication of thinking we're loaded. But unless you replicate ECL qualification it fades quickly. Rovers are also different in that their stadium isnt a bottomless pit of a drain on income, at worst its a set and budgetable annual fee. Shels, like Dundalk are dealing with an antiquated ground and playing catchup in a major way. How much was spent on the (old) new stand getting it reopened. Selling it out wont recoup costs in a few seasons. The river floods and they have no home gates, that barrel roof is going to need work.
Its not scientific, but I do think its a possible trend. A club gets a wedge and start feeling they can pay 6 figure transfer fees (I dont recall Rovers making a whole load of costly transfer in?). Derry can now bank roll it but manipulated the books in the past, Dundalk (imo) got exactly what fans protested for and ousted owners that could banckroll big signings but Drogs, at face value Shels albeit in a multiclub tha has yet to be be tested, didnt Cobh pay a relatively small fee recently but still. There re others. It seems like some European windfall and there is period of complacency when I think that money should become a reserve and spent on income generating facilities - stick to the team recruitment formula that got you there, better terms = better players without a transfer fee anyway. The biggest cost is players agents knwoing there is money and up their demands, call their bluff, players already have their bonuses. If they are on a longer term contract seem out to the last year not go offering everyone new deals.
Mayb Shels will be the extremely prudent exception, joining Sligo Rovers. Bohs would probaly not splash out on the playing squad, bees on the other hand would be the clubs marquee purchases with a new mural to clebrate someone who walked past Dalymount once.
Last edited by Nesta99; 16/01/2026 at 1:17 PM.
Always! We're very coy about players salaries in this country. You beat us to him though and we pay crazy money of course.
I mean when you put it weekly thats probably a very good wage for the League of Ireland but its about £200K a year which not unheard of money
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