Shelbourne raised bar for Irish clubs in Europe

On Soccer:There are those who reckon the brand of economics employed by Shelbourne to finance their assaults on Europe in recent years was so flawed the club's financial implosion was a good thing for the league because of the cautionary tale it provides for those who harbour ambitions of succeeding where Ollie Byrne's outfit ultimately failed.

They may have a point, although it remains undeniable that over the past few seasons Shelbourne raised the bar for all the leading Irish clubs. Without their determination to make a breakthrough in the Uefa-organised competitions and the belief their achievements might inspire other clubs to make an impact, it's hard to imagine we would have seen anything like the progress that has been made of late.

The Dubliners are not, of course, the only reason for the improvement. Like Shelbourne, most of the league's clubs competing internationally in recent years have been full-time while the switch to the summer season has had a dramatic impact, as has the arrival on the scene of clubs from so many newly-independent countries. Ultimately, though, perhaps the most important factor may have been a transformation of the mindset here towards Europe, and for that Pat Fenlon and co deserve some credit.

The scale of the improvement has been dramatic. In 16 European games last year, Irish clubs won seven times. Which is as many victories as were recorded in 82 outings over the course of the 1990s. Last season was also the first in 50 years of international participation by our clubs that more matches were won than lost. With Uefa's ranking list calculated over five years, the impact of the collective status of Irish clubs has yet to make itself fully felt. The Republic has made slow but steady progress over the past few seasons and lies 35th of the 53 leagues that will enter clubs in competition during the weeks and months ahead.

If the calculation was based only on the last three seasons, however, Ireland would lie 30th while the performance of clubs from here over the past two years would mean a placing of 25th. A measure of last year's achievement is that only one country outside the continent's top 20 - Denmark - bettered it, with Derry, Drogheda and Cork City (Shelbourne's Intertoto results don't count) collectively outperforming clubs from Austria, Poland, Hungary and Sweden. All of which is pretty good news unless you're a resident of the St Patrick's camp and in the process of preparing for Thursday's first leg of the Uefa tie against one of Denmark's leading sides, Odense.

In terms of the first qualifying round ties being undertaken by the Irish clubs this week, the one faced by the Dubliners is the most interesting. While the public knows little of Armenian football and will understandably presume any Sammarinese side should be beaten, the improved credibility generated by the recent performances of Irish sides in Europe has been in no small part based upon some healthy results against clubs from northern Europe, particularly, Sweden.

While neighbouring leagues have struggled in recent years and the timing of the games has better suited the Irish clubs, the Danes will prove tougher for a St Patrick's side whose recent league form has been less than convincing and whose new arrivals could have done with a month more to settle in and work on their fitness.

Irish clubs have only won four of 17 competitive game against Danish opposition. The most recent was last year's 1-0 home win over, as luck would have it, Odense, by Shelbourne, who had previously lost 3-0 away. It's not overly encouraging that two of the three remaining victories were secured by Bohemians over Esbjerg more than 30 years ago in the Cup Winners' Cup, while the third (by Drumcondra against Odense again) was in 1962.

John McDonnell's side have not been helped either by being drawn at home first. Around 60 per cent of the two-legged ties in the various knock-out rounds of the two main European competitions last season were won by the side that travelled for the initial game. Even against a side not due to start its domestic season until the weekend, the Inchicore club's manager faces a potentially stern examination of his tactical judgment this week.

At least, however, getting to the return leg is straightforward enough for the Dubliners. When the draw for these games was made, Derry City officials saw the extra week they had to organise their travel to Armenia as some consolation for being handed a home game first. Despite the additional time, though, the club's reluctance to pay the high cost of hiring a plane at this time of the year means their players are set to endure a gruelling three-flight trip to Yerevan via Dublin, London and Prague.

Shelbourne, you suspect, would have paid the extra money but then that, it might be argued, was precisely the sort of attitude that ultimately got them into so much difficulty. Whatever the cause, though, their demise is a blow because they were further down the road of developing a team capable of competing in Europe than any of their rivals.

In their absence, Drogheda would appear to be best placed by some distance of the Irish clubs to give fans here something to cheer about this summer but it will be quite some achievement if last year's overall performance can be equalled and the league's upward momentum is maintained.

With Europe out of the way for this year and some tough games coming up in the league, Cork City must look to find their stride quickly on the domestic front if they are to be sure of a place in one of the Uefa competitions for next summer. This evening's visit by Waterford United would appear to present a good opportunity to bounce back with a win but nobody down at Turner's Cross will need to be reminded of the 1-0 defeat by Gareth Cronin's side at the RSC back in March.

"It's our most important game of the season," said Cork manager Damien Richardson yesterday. "Now we're out of Europe we need to get a result that will lift us back into contention. Waterford would be happy to come away with a point, but it is up to us to produce a performance of sufficient quality . . . it is important we make home advantage count."

Waterford have added a couple of decent players to their squad over the past few weeks but they have yet to win away in the league this season and with only one win from their last five games, they could do with springing a surprise this evening.

"It's been a topsy-turvy season - we can defeat a team like St Pat's one minute and the next we lose to Rovers," says Cronin. "We really have to get a level of consistency going."

City are without Brian O'Callaghan, Darragh Ryan and Colm Carroll (all injured) and Joe Gamble (suspended) for the game, while Cronin must cope without the injured duo of Alan Mulcahy and Shane Harte as well as Cathal Lordan, who is prevented from playing by the terms of his loan move from Cork.

•Shamrock Rovers have been handed the task of overcoming old rivals Bohemians at Dalymount Park if they are to make it to the final of this year's Eircom-sponsored League Cup. Neither club has won the competition since the 1970s. They will meet during the first week of next month with Monday the 6th or Tuesday the 7th the most likely dates for the game. In the other semi-final, defending champions Derry City will take on UCD at the Brandywell in what will be a rerun of the 2005 final. On that occasion the northerners beat Pete Mahon's side 2-1 at Belfield. A date for this game, however, is unlikely to be set until City are eliminated from Europe.