Sunday's Clash Gets Go Ahead Despite Coldplay Concerns

Every fan in the modern game of football is now completely used to being inconvenienced with fixtures and clashes often subject to very late in the day calendar changes for a whole host of reasons - whether they be weather related, the strange kick off times for European competitions, or simply shifted to suit the broadcasters and their live television audiences.

However, this weekend the League of Ireland encountered quite a novel problem when it comes to next weekend's Dublin derby clash between Bohemian's and Shamrock Rovers. Everyone knows what this fixture means to the fans of both clubs, and as ever, whoever does manage to pick up three points on the day (if a side can seize advantage), it could prove crucial for their own 2024/25 domestic campaign.

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Shamrock Rovers are sat in fifth place in the League of Ireland table and will be looking to close the ten point gap that exists in the chase for top spot, whereas Bohemians have had a very poor season so far, and after a managerial change, they are sat in eighth place, a whole 20 points from the top.

Plenty will rest on what is one of the more high profile games in the calendar, but plenty of fans were left wondering whether or not the game would actually take place, as it was being reported that the Garda's lack of resources had become an issue given Coldplay's gig that is also scheduled to take place on the same Sunday.

Given the obvious clash and both events needing suitable Police coverage, it was claimed that three options were being considered as a compromise so numbers were not spread too thinly.

One option was moving the game to the earlier kick off slot of 11.30am, but that still gave rise to questions about the potential lack of Gardai at Dalymount Park, with the Croke Park event eating into available resources.

Another potential option was switching the game to Tallaght, and in turn the postponed Tallaght Stadium match from June would then be switched to Dalymount Park.

The final option was a straight postponement that would see the tie simply rearranged for a later date.

Speaking after their 1-1 draw with Galway United on Sunday, Shamrock gaffer Stephen Bradley confirmed that he still remained in the dark on what would actually happen to the fixture, but he did seem to suggest that the thoughts at first were that the game would just be postponed, but as discussions continued there was more confidence that it would in fact go ahead.

There had also been rumours that the game would take place, but would continue on a behind closed doors basis, but this was flatly denied by sources at Dalymount Park.

It was stated that, in discussions with both clubs, the final answer from the authorities would come at the beginning of the week, and on Monday, as promised, fans of both sides received their answer.

It has been agreed by all parties involved that the game will continue to take place on Sunday, and it will kick off at 11.30am as speculated. It is believed that the more novel kick off time should allow the Garda suitable leeway on a timing front to alleviate their own resource concerns - many will believe that this is a good compromise here as with the clash being postponed once already due to Rovers' European commitments, a second postponement would have been far from ideal.