The Irish European Adventure
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
European competition means different things to different people. To the likes of
Manchester United and Barcelona it means having to play Chelsea yet again and hoping
to avoid the bitter disappointment of getting knocked out at any stage before the final. To
supporters of the League of Ireland it means trying to source a reliable internet stream
from Kazakhstan and wondering how Ljubljana should be properly pronounced.
But despite the fact that the giants of the European game wouldn't get out of bed before the group stages the altogether different world that we inhabit has its own charms. Of course it would be nice to know that qualifying for Europe meant a guaranteed meeting with football aristocracy but we are wise enough to know that the ruling classes don't really want that to happen, and what football's ruling classes want they inevitably get.
Gone are the days when AC Milan are expected to show up at a place like St Mel's Park, or sides like Liverpool and Spurs are forced to tread through Europe's early rounds in the football grounds of County Louth. True, Juventus came to these shores last season but this was an event as rare as a blue moon. We are now more commonly pitched against sides that are infuriating to spell and almost impossible to get to.
But the upside of this virtual apartheid is that our clubs no longer get battered by teams that are, literally, out of our league. Back in the seventies, when Derby County were a force in English football, Finn Harps travelled to the Baseball Ground for a UEFA Cup tie and got thrashed 12-0. Drogheda United lost 14-0 on aggregate to Spurs in the eighties and when Dundalk stepped out at Anfield against Liverpool in 1969 they found themselves on the end of a 10-0 thumping.
Nowadays we can at least look forward to a few positive results against teams that are more suited to our abilities even if they don't quite satisfy our ambitions. And if we have to swap the cathedrals of football for a windswept field in Iceland then so be it, I'd rather feel proud in Reykjavik than humiliated in Madrid.
The greatest benefit of being corralled with the other minnows of the European game is that we get nights like last Thursday at Richmond Park. IBV are not a romantic proposition for the type of fan who only gets excited by televised pictures of Lionel Messi, but for those of us that get worked up watching a scoreless draw between Drogheda and UCD the arrival of the Scandinavians was like the first real taste of summer.
They brought with them a pleasant air of novelty and before the game had even started a cheerful gathering of Icelandic women had blown through the main stand like a fresh summer breeze. Each festooned in club colours, wigs and novelty hats, the Nordic goddesses brought a smile to the faces of wizened and embittered LoI veterans before a ball had even been kicked. If only it could be like that every week.
A large and enthusiastic home crowd turned out to invigorate the evening and a deluge of banners along the Camac terrace, along with a rare glimpse of summer sun, helped us all to feel as European as it is possible to feel while still in the surroundings of Emmett Road.
Then there was the game itself. Unburdened by the often wearying familiarity of domestic neighbours, IBV presented themselves as exotic opponents. Names like Valdimarsson, Borgthorsson and Olafsson helped to remind us that this lot were an unknown quantity and that the outcome of the game was tantalisingly unpredictable.
Thankfully St Pats played well and their impressive performance was topped off by a 2-0 win and progression to the next round. Cynics might point out that such a minor advance is irrelevant in the greater scheme of things but the greater scheme of things has little or nothing to do with the pleasures of day to day living. What is important is that for the next few weeks at least our clubs are a part of the great European circus.
Next up are Flora Tallinn at Tallaght stadium on Tuesday and the week after that we can look forward to the mysteries of Olimpija Uljubblejana and Shakhter Karagandy. They may not be legends of the game and it may be a hundred years or more before Juventus revisit our shores but a competitive spin on the dance floor with our European equals does at least offer the prospect that, come Round three, we might get to do it all over again.
But despite the fact that the giants of the European game wouldn't get out of bed before the group stages the altogether different world that we inhabit has its own charms. Of course it would be nice to know that qualifying for Europe meant a guaranteed meeting with football aristocracy but we are wise enough to know that the ruling classes don't really want that to happen, and what football's ruling classes want they inevitably get.
Gone are the days when AC Milan are expected to show up at a place like St Mel's Park, or sides like Liverpool and Spurs are forced to tread through Europe's early rounds in the football grounds of County Louth. True, Juventus came to these shores last season but this was an event as rare as a blue moon. We are now more commonly pitched against sides that are infuriating to spell and almost impossible to get to.
But the upside of this virtual apartheid is that our clubs no longer get battered by teams that are, literally, out of our league. Back in the seventies, when Derby County were a force in English football, Finn Harps travelled to the Baseball Ground for a UEFA Cup tie and got thrashed 12-0. Drogheda United lost 14-0 on aggregate to Spurs in the eighties and when Dundalk stepped out at Anfield against Liverpool in 1969 they found themselves on the end of a 10-0 thumping.
Nowadays we can at least look forward to a few positive results against teams that are more suited to our abilities even if they don't quite satisfy our ambitions. And if we have to swap the cathedrals of football for a windswept field in Iceland then so be it, I'd rather feel proud in Reykjavik than humiliated in Madrid.
The greatest benefit of being corralled with the other minnows of the European game is that we get nights like last Thursday at Richmond Park. IBV are not a romantic proposition for the type of fan who only gets excited by televised pictures of Lionel Messi, but for those of us that get worked up watching a scoreless draw between Drogheda and UCD the arrival of the Scandinavians was like the first real taste of summer.
They brought with them a pleasant air of novelty and before the game had even started a cheerful gathering of Icelandic women had blown through the main stand like a fresh summer breeze. Each festooned in club colours, wigs and novelty hats, the Nordic goddesses brought a smile to the faces of wizened and embittered LoI veterans before a ball had even been kicked. If only it could be like that every week.
A large and enthusiastic home crowd turned out to invigorate the evening and a deluge of banners along the Camac terrace, along with a rare glimpse of summer sun, helped us all to feel as European as it is possible to feel while still in the surroundings of Emmett Road.
Then there was the game itself. Unburdened by the often wearying familiarity of domestic neighbours, IBV presented themselves as exotic opponents. Names like Valdimarsson, Borgthorsson and Olafsson helped to remind us that this lot were an unknown quantity and that the outcome of the game was tantalisingly unpredictable.
Thankfully St Pats played well and their impressive performance was topped off by a 2-0 win and progression to the next round. Cynics might point out that such a minor advance is irrelevant in the greater scheme of things but the greater scheme of things has little or nothing to do with the pleasures of day to day living. What is important is that for the next few weeks at least our clubs are a part of the great European circus.
Next up are Flora Tallinn at Tallaght stadium on Tuesday and the week after that we can look forward to the mysteries of Olimpija Uljubblejana and Shakhter Karagandy. They may not be legends of the game and it may be a hundred years or more before Juventus revisit our shores but a competitive spin on the dance floor with our European equals does at least offer the prospect that, come Round three, we might get to do it all over again.
About Simon O'Gorman
Simon O'Gorman began reporting for Extratime in 2010. He remembers Milltown and Flower Lodge and, back in the mists of time, saw Diego Maradona play at Lansdowne Road. He now lives in Co Kildare and … View Full Profile