Article: published on 6 August 2024

Cliftonville ultimately fell short in their bid to sustain a challenge for the league title last term but a third place finish was a creditable outcome in Jim Magilton's first season in charge at Solitude.

The north Belfast outfit will hope a first Irish Cup success since 1979 can inspire them to even greater things in 2024-25.

The loss of forward trio Ben Wilson, Ronan Hale and Sam Ashford is a major blow to the Reds' prospects but the expectation would be that Magilton will further bolster his attacking options.

Transfers In: Luke Conlan, Michael Newberry, Rory Donnelly, Sean Stewart, Shaun Leppard.

Transfers Out: Ben Wilson, Chris Curran [retired], Eric Yoro [end of loan], Gerard Storey, Jamie McDonagh, Jamie Robinson, Micheal Morgan, Nathan Gartside, Ronan Hale, Sam Ashford, Seanan Foster, Stephen Mallon.

Joel Taggart's Take: The departed forward trio of Hale, Ashford and Wilson accounted for nearly half of Cliftonville's 80 league goals last season.

How do they fill that void?

Ryan Curran’s return from injury is a boost - he's scored nearly 50 league goals in his last three full seasons.

Jim Magilton's side struggled defensively after losing Luke Turner last January. They conceded twice as many league goals from January to April as they did from August to December so Magilton will hope new recruit Shaun Leppard will help address that issue.

Opening fixtures: 11/8 - Portadown (h) - live on BBC Sport NI; 17/8 - Glenavon (a); 20/8 - Dungannon Swifts (h); 24/8 - Crusaders (a)