League of Ireland Celebrates Historic Night of European Football

Shamrock Rovers pulled off the impressive scalp of Portuguese side Santa Clara when holding them to a 0-0 draw in Dublin to seal a 2-1 aggregate success, while Shelbourne comfortably saw off the challenge of Northern Irish side Linfield to progress. Irish clubs have enjoyed some recent success in European competition, with Shamrock qualifying for the league phase for the second year running, having finished 10th last year before losing to Norwegian side Molde in the play-off round. 

Dundalk have twice qualified for the group stage of the Europa League in the last decade, doing so in 2016 and 2020, but this marks the first time that two Irish sides have been able to pull off the feat in the same campaign.

Such an achievement should prove to be a lucrative one, too, with both clubs set to pocket a minimum of €3.7m in prize money. That figure is around 30 times the amount that is given each year to the winner of the League of Ireland, while there are performance based incentives for each club around their results that will bring in additional revenue. 

Unlike in the Champions League and the Europa League where the league phase consists of eight fixtures, the Conference League features six ties to be completed before Christmas and out of the two Irish sides it is Shamrock who are more likely to be happier with their draw. 

Shelbourne have been handed ties against Premier League heavyweights Crystal Palace and European regulars AZ Alkmaar, while Shamrock must negotiate match-ups against Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk and 38-time Czech title winners Sparta Prague. The individual odds for each gameweek have yet to be released, but both Shamrock Rovers (150-1) and Shelbourne (300-1) are fairly unfancied at the time of writing by Betfred, who have them as outsiders to win the tournament outright.

In A Nutshell

The qualification of both Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne for the UEFA Conference League marks a watershed moment for Irish football. Not only does it highlight the growing competitiveness of the League of Ireland, but it also offers both clubs an unprecedented financial boost and a chance to showcase their talent on a bigger stage. While the odds suggest an uphill battle, the historic achievement ensures Irish football fans have plenty to look forward to in the months ahead.