Emmet Malone/Soccer Column THEIR respective histories might not suggest a common bond between this season's Carlsberg FAI Cup finalists but as they prepare for Sunday's showdown at Tolka Park, Shamrock Rovers and Derry City are on very much the same route to what they hope will be a brighter footballing future.

Both have seen very hard times at one point or another in recent years and each is now involved in what amount to little less than a re-invention.

Almost the only significant difference, it seems, is the northern club's attempt to re-establish themselves in the local community and to develop a more stable organisation is a couple of years further down the line than that of their Dublin counterparts.

City's problems, like those of most clubs that find themselves on the brink of extinction, stemmed from a failure to deal with their financial problems when the warning signs first appeared.

When the full extent of the crisis hit home a couple of years ago, it took some remarkable feats of fund-raising, combined with grim cost-cutting and a huge amount of generosity on the part of others, to prevent the club sinking under the weight of its debts.

Perhaps the biggest factor in turning things around at the Brandywell, though, was the demonstration by the city's population that there was a real desire for the club to survive.

Almost everything else stemmed from that, with the high-profile friendlies, golf classics and all manner of other fund-raising events only succeeding at the end of the day because there was a sufficient reservoir of goodwill within the local community.

Those involved in running the club knew, however, they would not be in a position to go cap in hand to the same people again.

City had been handed a huge "get out of jail" card and there would be little enough sympathy if the club's board showed the slightest inclination towards recidivism.

So, two years on, the club's once commercial manager, now chairman, Jim Roddy, is proud of the way things have progressed. City, he says, are still in the black, with costs down and fund-raising considerably up.

A new sense of accountability to the local community has been fostered and public meetings on significant issues can draw several hundred supporters, who get their chance to make their feelings known to the board on the way things are being done.

The scale of the recovery can be gauged by the almost doubling of average home attendances and dramatically improved support for the club's fund-raising activities.

Last week the club's 4,000 tickets for the final sold out within hours and the 150 additional tickets secured yesterday are expected to go over the next day or so. Similarly, 2,500 tickets for a draw for an apartment that were put on sale at £100 each almost all went during the first week.

Overall, the impact around the club has been tremendous and the hope now is that in addition to investing in a serious merchandising operation - something many league sides are unable to consider because of the initial outlay - City are involved in talks with an outside party regarding a major redevelopment of the Brandywell.

Rovers, meanwhile, are trying to establish themselves in what is for the club still very new territory.

So, while City view the prospect of a cup win as an opportunity to reward long-standing fans for their renewed support, Tony Maguire, Joe Colwell's successor as chairman of the Hoops, feels a win this weekend would help to bring new people, commercial backers as well as ordinary supporters, on board.

The club's move to Tallaght has already evolved into something of a saga and Maguire's estimate that it will take a further €4 million to get the club up and running there may come as a bit of a shock to many, given how much money has already been poured into the site of their new stadium.

Maguire, though, is hugely enthusiastic about the project, insisting that despite what is by league standards an absolutely huge capital outlay, the figures do add up. Like Derry, the club has been busy tapping into the club's traditional support base but, more than a decade after effectively becoming homeless, that is not what it was and as of yesterday the Dubliners still had a quarter of their ticket allocation for Sunday to sell.

Their core support, however, remains astonishingly loyal and the club recently set about persuading 400 supporters to commit themselves to giving €40 a month for the next three years. The target number would provide €180,000 a year and so far, Rovers are a quarter of the way there.

Then there is the question of commercial backing. A couple of potentially major backers are involved in negotiations and it is hoped the naming rights to the ground will be sold within a couple of weeks.

After that the club is aiming to persuade around 50 local businesses to get involved. If an average of €3,000 can be raised from each firm, the thinking goes, the club would be in a position to make the repayments on the loan it needs to get into Tallaght.

After that the bars, function rooms and shops included in the development would provide revenue streams for future expansion while even the 800 car-parking spaces - within walking distance of the Luas line - may be pressed into service as a park and ride facility.

The renaming of Tallaght Town, with which Maguire was previously involved, has given Rovers, of which both his grandfathers were founding members, a major headstart in the area in terms of raising awareness.

But everybody knows that until the club's first team starts playing in their new home there will be a problem with attempting to identify Rovers as a Tallaght team.

The process of building bridges with the community goes on, however, and officials from Derry City have recently offered to pass on the lessons learned during the past couple of years to their Rovers counterparts.

In the circumstances, simply allowing the Dubliners to win on Sunday would be sure to have a more immediate impact but hey, the spirit of solidarity sweeping through the Brandywell only extends so far. ...