Soccer/National League: Emmet Malone previews the new National League season which kicks off tonight with the match between champions Shelbourne and UCD at Tolka Park.

There was a flurry of excitement here in the office a couple of weeks back when one of the country's best-known bookmakers sent word, untrue as it turned out, they were offering evens against Damien Richardson getting the Cork City job some 24 hours after the deal that brought the former Shelbourne manager back to Turner's Cross had been done over the telephone.

A brief glance at the last year's form and the squads that each of the Premier Division's 12 clubs will bring to the 2005 league campaign, which kicks off tonight at Tolka Park, might suggest a wager on Shelbourne to win a third successive title is only slightly less of a certainty.

Pat Fenlon has improved an already strong squad over the close season with the arrival of Glen Crowe, Colin Hawkins and Bobby Ryan (all from Bohemians) as well as Richie Baker and Gary O'Neill providing him with options that comfortably outstrip those available to the best equipped of his rivals.

The team looks better in attack than defence but they could hardly be said to be weak in any department and if Jason Byrne and Crowe form a striking partnership that is the sum of its parts then the club may be able to afford to concede the odd goal.

The club's pre-season has gone well and the campaign promises much with the pressure to deliver not only in the league, one suspects, but also in the Setanta Cup and Europe about the only negative factor ahead of this evening's opening tie against UCD.

"There's pressure," says Fenlon, "but there's been pressure since the day I came here and it's never been a bad thing. The lads who have come in know the league and have, for the most part, already proven themselves to be winners in it. We've added quality and depth and the hope is that we'll see the benefits of that over the coming months."

At Monday's launch of the campaign Fenlon's rivals could only express a mixture of envy and admiration for the talent he will have at his disposal and all conceded that unless Shelbourne lose their way between now and November it would be a remarkable surprise if anybody can get the better of them in the league.

"All you can say," said one manager, "is that they have a lot of players of the sort that would be expecting to play first-team football every week in this league and that in itself can cause problems.

"Real Madrid are all the proof you need that a big chequebook doesn't guarantee success every season and things are hardly going brilliantly at Old Trafford just now either. None of which changes the fact, though, that if you have the money to buy in good players then you're starting off at a hell of an advantage."

Drogheda United's spending over the winter should enable them to fight it out with the leading clubs and if so many new players can gel quickly a place in Europe looks a possibility.

With Bohemians severely weakened by the loss of so many first-team players, Derry City rebuilding as a locally-based full-time side and Longford still looking like a side that can win a cup but not quite challenge in the league, Cork City look to be the main threat to Fenlon's hopes of a three-in-a-row, particularly if Richardson restores the team's traditional confidence at home and brings in a couple of extra bodies.

At the other end of the table the three promoted teams start, as usual, as the favourites to occupy the automatic relegation and play-off places in November. Finn Harps look to have an edge on their two rivals, though, and if any of the three can make a real impact on the top flight in their first season back up then it looks to be Felix Healy's side.

Pat Devlin says Bray will aim for "top of the bottom four", as he puts it, with Pete Mahon aiming two places higher but both are sure to be happy if they can avoid going straight back down.

Either could do it although it would require one of the bigger names to slip backwards. Waterford United's tendency towards inconsistency could leave them with a bit of a scrap on their hands but it is hard to see Alan Reynolds' side go down while St Patrick's Athletic can hardly have more to contend with than last season.

The ongoing financial difficulties at Shamrock Rovers look the most plausible cause of what would be a major upset with the once great Dublin club's fortunes depending at least as much on what can be achieved by the directors off the pitch as what Roddy Collins can manage on it.

These days, after all, money is probably the best indicator of form whichever end of the table you are looking at.

Fenlon gets an early opportunity to show off Shelbourne's strength in depth this evening as his side kicks off its assault on a third title without Byrne, Jim Crawford or David Crawley, all of whom are suspended. Wesley Hoolahan and Glen Fitzpatrick are also doubts because of injuries but all of the close-season arrivals are fit with Hawkins, Crowe and Bobby Ryan looking likely to make their competitive debuts for the Drumcondra club.

"The last few weeks have gone well and I think it's fair to say that the increased tempo we've seen in the training gave us the first indication of the competition for places that we're going to have here," says Fenlon. "This is the first real test we'll have had, though and it's an important one but we know that it's going to be tough."

UCD are below full strength too, however, and Pete Mahon does not quite have the sort of established names to draft into his starting line-up for the trip across town to the champions.

Tony McDonnell and Anthony Murphy are suspended while Robert McAuley is injured with a medial ligament problem that is likely to sideline him for at least the next couple of weeks.

"It's a huge challenge for us," says Mahon, "because it's a very young side and none of the younger lads have played at this level before. We've a team spirit that's second to none, though, and some very talented lads so we certainly won't be anybody's pushovers."

Mahon doesn't think that any of the Premier Division's other teams will relish their trips to Belfield and he may be right, but it remains to be seen how well his side travels and a point tonight would look like a very good start to the campaign.