rShamrock Rovers v Djurgardens (Sweden), Tallaght stadium, Thursday, 8pm – Live on Virgin Media 3 and BT Sport 4
European football comes with a health warning for Shamrock Rovers. All the advantages yielded by playing domestic football throughout the summer have disappeared as Djurgardens are flying in the Allsvenskan, lying second behind BK Häcken after 21 matches.
The Stockholm club are on a hot streak, winning their last three domestic fixtures and only losing once, a dead rubber away to Apoel of Cyprus, in the last 24 matches. Contrast this with Rovers, who were outfought by Bohemians in the Dublin derby at Dalymount Park last Friday, and the logical money goes on Kim Bergstrand’s side to prevail.
Devoid of stars, but possessing plenty of capable performers like striker Victor Edvardsen, the fan owned club expect to reach the knock-out stages of the Conference League, with a business model that offers African talent a gateway to the bigger European football markets.
Rovers pulled off an important piece of business themselves recently by keeping Andy Lyons on the books until January when the Ireland under-21 wing back joins Blackpool in the English Championship.
“Some people have it in their minds that we can hold on to players here forever, it’s not going to happen,” said head coach Stephen Bradley this week. “Unless you want to go into the area of paying players three, four, five, six thousand pound [a week], for me that’s not where you go. This league isn’t ready for that and we certainly won’t go down that road.”
Rovers appear committed to a three-pronged approach to squad building: grow your own stars from Gavin Bazunu to Justin Ferizjai; attract veterans returning from England like Richie Towell; and thirdly, entice the best players at other League of Ireland clubs with the prospect of European nights. It worked for Lyons and Danny Mandroiu, both lured from Bohemians, before being sold on to English clubs.
If European football is to become a staple part of Rovers’ winter diet the current status quo of incoming and outgoings must be maintained and eventually enhanced.
The Rovers project does appear to hold long-term aspirations. Tonight marks the start of a new journey for a club reporting a profit of €409,753 after tax, having bounced back from €1.7 million losses during Covid, as the board noted that sustainability remains dependent on winning. They will secure €500,000 in prize money for victory over Djurgardens. €166,000 for a draw.
Bradley is just being realistic, but it suggests that Rovers cannot possibly be ready to advance from the group stages of the Conference League.
“Unless you are going to get into the area of offering silly money, we have to understand where we are in the food chain.”
Precisely where they reside among the continental hierarchy will be revealed by Djurgardens and Gent next Thursday, with limited availability for accommodation pointing to the fact that the Hoops’ faithful are travelling en masse to the small Belgium city while the going is still good to firm.
Lyons adjusted to the pace that Rovers were exposed to in Bulgaria and Hungary, as they were rerouted from the Champions League qualifiers to the third tier of European competition, but several of his team-mates struggled with the technical leap.
That’s the fear again as the bright lights of Virgin and BT Sport push Irish club football on to a global stage. The fear of failure has driven this group all year, and it must be palpable as these six Group F games will test every aspect of the management’s ability.
Ideally Chris McCann returns from injury as the 35-year-old midfielder proved a vital cog in Rovers reaching this juncture, particularly when Jack Byrne was struggling for fitness. The sight of both veterans retaining possession alongside Gary O’Neill would give them a fighting chance, and that’s all they need, having shown plenty of resilience on this historic European run by reversing heavy away defeats to Ludogorets and Ferencváros.
Ronan Finn will breaks the Irish record for most appearances in Uefa competitions when he leads Rovers on to the pitch for his 55th European game. Another milestone has Rovers playing the most European matches (nine) in a single season as they surpass the Europa League campaign of 2011/12.
Tallaght’s 7,800 capacity has yet to be filled with the club shop selling tickets for €30 and €15 for children under 14. Rovers are eyeing up a fifth straight home win in Europe this season so the collective attitude could inspire an unforgettable result.
