By Mark McCadden

Copyright irishmirror

It’s becoming the new normal for Shamrock Rovers . Games right up to Christmas, a few weeks’ break and then straight back into pre-season. Last year’s historic Europa Conference League campaign kept the Hoops in action until their league phase finale against Chelsea on December 19, while they were back in action less than two months later, opening their 2025 campaign against Bohemians at the Aviva Stadium . The fear at the time was Stephen Bradley’s players would suffer this year with insufficient rest. Yet the opposite has been the case, as they have romped clear in the Premier Division , made it to the semi-finals of the FAI Cup and qualified the hard way – without access to the champions’ path – to another league phase campaign in the Conference League. And they will have even less rest ahead of next season, with the 2026 League of Ireland campaign set to begin a week earlier than the current one, with Rovers’ final European game scheduled for December 18 at home to Hamrun Spartans of Malta. So how have they done it? Stephen Bradley was asked this ahead of Friday’s game against Bohemians and he revealed that he got advice from other teams that have gone from one season to another with little rest, including Premier League giants Manchester City. “We did our research on other teams,” he said. “Man City had done it before. They had players that I’m not sure if it was the Euros or the World Cup, Portuguese players that played in it. Ruben Dias and people like that. “They didn’t have a pre-season. They had a 10-day, two-week lead-in and then played the Community Shield. That’s the first game. They played an hour and then came off. “We looked at a lot of teams that had done that around Europe. “This isn’t something that was taken out of the sky. It was something that we researched and looked at for a long time. “But there’s still a chance. You’re still taking a chance because the players are used to a certain way of doing it. “I always speak about Mary (Larkin, sports psychologist). That’s why we’ve dealt with Mary for so long. You have the mental capacity to deal with things like that in a positive way. “You can’t just say that and think, we’re going to have a two-week pre-season and everything’s grand. It’s not. The players need to be in tune to do that. There’s a lot that went into it.” Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .