Europa League play-off, first leg - PAOK (Greece) v Shamrock Rovers, Toumba Stadium, Thursday, 6.30pm – Live via LOITV streaming service
A play-off against the Greek champions may not be deemed of national interest in the eyes of the national broadcaster, but Shamrock Rovers are a two-legged victory away from reaching the group stages of the Europa League for only the second time in their 125-year history.
When Rovers last reached the Europa League proper in 2011 they finished bottom of a group that PAOK topped and from which Tottenham Hotspur failed to escape after defeat to Russian side Rubin Kazan.
Rovers lost all six matches. That was before Uefa created a third tier competition, which remains some distance beyond the competitive levels of the League of Ireland champions.
In 2022 Rovers made it to the Uefa Conference League, again finishing bottom of a group that contained clubs from Sweden, Norway and Belgium, with each side far superior to the best Irish football could offer.
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Not much has changed in the past two years. Arguably, Ireland as a football nation has slid further down the global pecking order just as a domestic revival is stymied by a debt-ridden FAI and absurdly outdated facilities.
Regardless of results against PAOK, home and away, Tallaght Stadium and perhaps Rovers can prove outliers in this narrative.
If Răzvan Lucescu’s €100 million squad prevail – Rovers’ panel is valued at €5 million by transfermarkt.com – Stephen Bradley’s men will drop into the Conference League draw on Friday week. St Patrick’s Athletic could join them. Chelsea (current squad value: €1.1 billion) almost certainly will.
In January this season had the potential to become the greatest Shamrock Rovers have ever known. It is not too late but their hunt for a fifth successive Premier Division title looks increasingly unlikely.
With 11 games remaining, they are 10 points behind Shelbourne and six guaranteed European nights will put the sort of pressure on Rovers’ squad that forced the 39-year-old manager Bradley to field understrength sides away to Gent and Molde two years ago, to ensure Derry City did not deny them the three in a row.
“We can’t come here [to Greece] with anything other than thinking we’ve got to play our strongest hand right now,” said Bradley. “They’re Sparta Prague level of opposition [Sparta knocked Rovers out of the Champions League]. You’ve got to come here fully focused. We’ll look after Galway on Sunday when we get there. Tomorrow night is full focus on making sure we can take the tie back to Tallaght. That’s the aim.”
If Rovers secure a draw or a narrow defeat, PAOK will suddenly find themselves facing a similar position to 2021 when Bohemians beat them 2-1 before a pandemic-reduced crowd of 8,000 at the Aviva Stadium. The Greek side scrambled through 3-2 on aggregate.
It will be summer-time-hot in Thessaloniki and, while Johnny Kenny and Rory Gaffey are injured, new signing Danny Mandroiu will feature for the Hoops.
None of this signifies the dawn of a new era for Irish football but Rovers being mentioned in the same breath as PAOK and Chelsea is surely of a national interest.
