Tallaght Stadium set for its 44th European tie on Thursday

Clockwise from top left: Ronan Finn challenges Spurs’ Danny Rose (2011), Hannover 96 fans during their game against St. Patrick’s Athletic (2012), action from Drogheda United v Malmo (2013) and Dundalk line up against BATE (2016)

Clockwise from top left: Ronan Finn challenges Spurs’ Danny Rose (2011), Hannover 96 fans during their game against St. Patrick’s Athletic (2012), action from Drogheda United v Malmo (2013) and Dundalk line up against BATE (2016) Credit: Extratime Photographers (ETPhotos)

Derry City will play their first ever European game at Tallaght Stadium this Thursday when they take on Tobol Kostanay from Kazakhstan in the Europa Conference League third qualifying round (kick-off 7.45pm)

The Candystripes trail 1-0 from the first leg and will become the fifth League of Ireland team to use the Dublin 24 venue as their home venue for a European match – the 44th UEFA club game at the venue.

Shamrock Rovers have played 32 European games in the stadium across 12 seasons (2010 to 2012 and 2015 to 2023).

The other dozen European games are split between St. Patrick’s Athletic with a game each in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2022, Drogheda United drew 0-0 with Malmo in 2013 while Dundalk played four matches in 2016 (including their three Europa League group stage games) and two in 2021.

In addition to hosting Dundalk’s Europa League group games in 2016, the stadium was venue for Shamrock Rovers' group games in 2011 (Europa League) and 2022 (Europa Conference League).

Rovers European record in Tallaght

P32      W11    D6        L15      F29      A40      Win ratio 0.34

Non-Rovers European record in Tallaght

P11      W2      D2        L7        F9        A20      Win ratio 0.18

The lower win ratio for non-Rovers game is likely a reflection of those matches mostly being games in the third qualifying round when League of Ireland teams are coming up against higher quality opposition.



The two non-Rovers wins in Tallaght were eared by Dundalk’s Stephen Kenny side in 2016 when they defeated BATE Borisov 3-0 (3-1 on aggregate) in the Europa League play-off and the 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the group stages. Dundalk’s 2-2 draw against Levadia Tallinn in 2021 saw them win the tie 4-3 on aggregate.

Derry City were required to play away from the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium as its seated capacity of 3,700 is below the 4,500 UEFA 4 star stadium requirement for the third qualifying round. It is also a requirement for the play-off rounds of both the Europa Conference League and Europa League.

In the earlier rounds, a UEFA two star stadium is sufficient (with a minimum seated capacity of 1,500). The Champions League play-off round requires a 8,000 UEFA four star stadium.

The stadium is also the home for the Ireland women's national team, although they will play their upcoming game against Northern Ireland in the Aviva Stadium.

After a long drawn out saga for Shamrock Rovers, South Dublin County Council stepped in to complete the stadium which was opened in March 2009 with Rovers as the anchor tenant. The stadium initially had just the 3,000 capacity main (West) stand but the East stand was constructed later that season, with the 2,000 seated south stand opened in 2019.



The north stand is due for completion before the end of this season which will bring the capacity up above 10,000.

About Macdara Ferris

Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile