Shamrock Rovers Euro campaign in numbers – goals, appearances, coefficient points and prize money

Shamrock Rovers’ European season will continue into 2025 when they play Molde in the UEFA Conference League knockout phase play-off in February. We’ve looked at the metrics from their Euro campaign and picked out some notable numbers including detailing the record coefficient points won and the €6.4m confirmed prize money earned to date.

0

The number of Rovers’ 14 European matches in 2024 that were shown on free to air television in Ireland. While Premier Sports showcased the league stage matches in the Conference League, Irish broadcasters declined to show any of the Hoops’ qualifiers en-route the league stage. 

After RTÉ did not show Rovers’ Europa League play-off against PAOK in Tallaght in August, the Hoops were prompted  to consider “if it will facilitate any future requests from the National broadcaster to show SSE Airtricity Premier Division fixtures from Tallaght Stadium in 2024”.

Rovers CEO John Martin and RTÉ Head of Sport Declan McBennett subsequently met and RTÉ’s cameras did return to show Rovers in domestic action before the year end.

1

Shamrock Rovers became the first League of Ireland side to qualify for the knockout stages of a UEFA club competition. With the 4-1 league stage win over Larne, they also became the first League of Ireland side across five campaigns (three for Rovers and two for Dundalk) to win away from home in a UEFA group stage/league stage match.

7

Number of goals scored by Johnny Kenny in Europe this year – two in the Champions League qualifiers and five in the league stage of the Conference League (where he finished second top scorer). 

Those goals moved him in one single campaign to the position of joint fifth highest goalscorer in League of Ireland history in Europe. He scored 20 goals in all competitions becoming the first Rovers player to hit that landmark since Gary Twigg scored 24 in 2012.

10 

Goals scored by Graham Burke in Europe during his time with the Hoops. In this campaign Burke scored in Rovers’ 3-1 Europa League third qualifying second leg victory over Celje in Tallaght and in the 4-1 win in Windsor Park over Larne.

Those goals moved him joint third in the all-time League of Ireland scorer list in Europe, level with Jason Byrne. Only Glen Crowe (11) and David McMillan (14) have scored more.

11

Points secured in the league stage of the Conference League. The Hoops had three wins – Larne (A), The New Saints (H) and Borac Banja Luka (H) - and two draws APOEL (H) and Rapid (A).

They ended their campaign with a 5-1 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to finish tenth in the table. They only missed out on a top 8 spot and progression straight through to the last 16 on goal difference.

12.375

The League of Ireland record of UEFA coefficient points earned by Rovers in this campaign. The Hoops got two wins and a draw in the qualifiers (earning 2.5 points) and three wins and two draws in the league stage where the points are doubled (8 points).

They then picked up a 1.875 point bonus for finishing tenth in the league stage of the Conference League

With Pat’s picking up four points, Shels two and Derry City one, the League of Ireland total for this season stands at a record 19.375, giving an average of 4.843 which puts Ireland 24^th for this current campaign to date.

The five year ranking coefficient now stands at 14.468 to position Ireland in 32nd place in the UEFA Country Rankings – this should mean the 2025 FAI Cup winners will go directly into the Europa League first qualifying round, giving them a back door into the Conference League qualifiers should they need one. 

Any further points in February will see Rovers jump above Moldova (14.5) who have no sides left in Europe. Making the last 16 would earn another 0.5 points on top of any points earned with a win (2) or draw (1) in the knockout phase play-off.

The only countries ranked below Ireland with representatives still remaining in Europe are Iceland (13.020 in 33rd – Vikingur who play Panathinaikos in the Conference League knockout phase play-off), Bosnia (11.906 in 36th – Borac who play Olimpija in the Conference League knockout phase play-off) and Latvia (11.75 in 37th - Riga sit 34th in the league stage of the Europa League with two games to play in January).

19 

Goals scored by Rovers in their 14 European games – P14 W5 D3 L6 F19 A24

37

Percentage of the ball the Hoops have had in Europe – this compares with 61% possession on average in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland.

43

Total appearances for Rovers in Europe by both Dylan Watts and Pico Lopes. Only Ronan Finn (47) has played in more matches for the Hoops in Europe.

38,467

Attendance at Chelsea v Shamrock Rovers in Stamford – the fourth largest crowd the Hoops have ever played in front of in a competitive game. 20,700 attended the Rapid v Rovers match in Vienna earlier in the Conference League.

6,410,622

That is the minimum amount that Rovers have earned in prize money. 

Leaving the biggest number and the biggest explanation till last, the breakdown is:

Qualification stage earnings               €3.87m

League stage win earnings                €1.2m (3 wins @ €400,000 each)

League stage draw earnings             €266,000 (2 draws @ €133,000 each)

Finishing tenth in the league stage    €756,000* (27 shares @ €28,000)

Draw distribution                                €118,622** (27 shares @ €4,393.4)

Knockout phase play-off                    €200,000

                                                          €6,410,622***

*€18.648m pot divided by 666 per share = €28,000 per position - Rovers got 27 shares for finishing tenth in the league stage.

**When there is a draw, UEFA pay out €133,000 to each club (€266,000 in total) which is lower than the €400,000 paid out for a win. So for each draw in the league stage, UEFA take the unassigned €133,000 and proportionally increase the initial value of the shares distributed to each position. There were 22 draws across the six match nights in the league stage adding €2.925m to the distribution pot (22 draws x €133,000). €2,925,000 / 666 per share = €4,393.4 per position – Rovers got 27 shares for tenth in the league)

*** The Hoops will also earn additional five year and ten year ranking UEFA prize money that is estimated to be around €750,000.