Shamrock Rovers is a club with a proud tradition, successful past and a deeply difficult present. The Dubliners' fanatical following have long been convinced that the game here can not thrive without them but these days the game is less sure and those at the heart of running the club are under no illusions about how important the next couple of seasons may prove to be.

The start made by Mick Byrne's side to the new campaign has been one of the most pleasantly surprising aspects of the first seven weeks and it is wonderful that a club about whom so many dark rumours have circulated in recent months should find themselves level at the top of the table.

Not many who witnessed their defeat of the defending champions, Derry, were of the opinion that they fully deserved the three points but one of the outstanding qualities displayed by the newly rebuilt side has been its ability to scrap.

What makes Rovers' achievement all the more remarkable is the fact that there has been a good deal of cloth cutting at the club since the end of last season when, with the proposed relocation to Tallaght repeatedly delayed, it appears to have been concluded that the losses urgently needed to be scaled back.

Aside from the arrival of a new sponsor, Woodies DIY, the playing staff's wage bill is rumoured to have been trimmed considerably as is the amount paid to Shelbourne for the use of Tolka Park but it is on the Tallaght plan that the club's future prosperity, perhaps even its existence, still depends.

"We're delighted with the way things have gone so far because we look at it as a rewards for having spent prudently during the summer and doing the best with what we have available to us but when you look at it we are starting from a point that is probably £100,000 behind the other big clubs," says manager Mick Byrne.

"That's the sort of money that not having our own ground costs us because aside from having to pay rent, we're limited in how much advertising that we can sell, we have to rent offices, we're not generating any other revenue from a venue and the crowds that we are getting are a lot smaller than we could attract if we had out own home."

Hence the understandable anxiety about the appeal by local residents to An Bord Pleanala regarding the decision by South Dublin County Council to grant permission for their planned stadium development in Sean Walsh Memorial Park. The future of the development has become embroiled in a dispute over the reopening of a local road which appears to have predated the application itself and general manager Pat Byrne is reluctant to consider the possibility of failure at this stage of the process.

"I don't like to talk about the problem with the road because it isn't really our problem but we are hoping it can be sorted out," he says. As for what happens if the news is bad when the outcome of the appeal becomes known (it's currently scheduled for January 14th) Byrne admits to being more than a little unsure.

If the move does come off, then it should be the start of a bright new era for the Hoops. If, however, it falls through then the long term future of the club must surely be in doubt what with the talk from the FAI and the other big clubs of a slimmed down league.

When Ollie Byrne mentioned the sort of teams he envisaged being involved in a 10-team league if that were to be achieved, Rovers warranted a mention but that would mean at least four of the 10 coming from the capital as Bohemians, Shelbourne and St Patrick's Athletic would all appear to have stronger claims at present.

A few years back when Sligo and Shamrock Rovers were both involved in a relegation battle, the then Sligo manager Willie McStay joked that if the Dubliners lost out, then the League would simply meet and change the rules to keep them up. If the best they can offer the league now is to be wandering tenants for the foreseeable future, then that may no longer be the case.

However, with a new ground and a new future Shamrock Rovers would certainly be nice to have around.