Against the backdrop of its ongoing efforts to meet the new UEFA regulations that the club's chairman believes will completely transform the game here, Derry City prepared to lift the curtain on what is undoubtedly the most important league season in decades yesterday.

All around the Brandywell, City officials were busily readying the ground for this evening's visit of Longford Town and the start of a league campaign that both clubs will be hoping yields more than the battle against relegation that both became embroiled in last season.

While Jim Roddy is hopeful that the cup holders can improve on last year's eighth place, he is, like other administrators around the country, preoccupied with the demands of the new licensing system and the shift in season that many see as being key to real progress being made by the league.

"People say that last year was a big one for the league," says Roddy, "but this is a defining one. Everybody knows how much depends on the whole summer soccer idea being a success and the licensing issue is absolutely crucial. I mean, if this club was to apply for the license, not get one and then lose its appeal, it won't be in the Premier Division regardless of what we do on the pitch over the next year or so.

"The amount of regulation is enormous and we're looking at changing almost everything here, from the press facilities to the number of qualified coaches working with our underage teams, but there's no doubt at all that it's the way forward. For years all we've done is spend money to put players out there on the pitch but in the process everything else has suffered. Well those days are gone."

Roddy has spent much of his time lately talking with the local council in Derry about the improvements that will need to be carried out at the ground. Already there has been progress, with the entire Brandywell complex made available for training during the week for the first time. City, like clubs up and down the country, are striving to establish a more full-time structure, and there has been a generally positive reaction from the council.

This evening's opponents, Longford Town, provide ample evidence of what can be achieved, with the club's home - Flancare Park - having been transformed beyond recognition in the space of a few short years.

Both of these clubs, in fact, might easily have slipped out of senior football during the past few seasons as each became crippled by debt. Now they are representative of the new confidence sweeping through the game.

Just now, indeed, a problem for both managers is attempting to get rid of the money they have been given by their respective boards to spend. Kevin Mahon continues to wait on a decision from Finn Harps as to whether the club will part with striker Kevin McHugh for the €40,000 offered, while Alan Matthews is hoping that his attempt to sign Ciaran Martyn might even be progressed once this evening's game is out of the way, although he has plenty of competition.

The two sides will be close to full strength this evening, with City missing the suspended Peter Hutton and Longford without Tom Silke and Vinny Perth ( also suspended).

The game promises much, as does the season to follow.