LoI in Europe 2024

[joey B]

A very good night for Rovers and probably not a good one for the other challengers at the top of league with the money they’re going to make….

[legendz]

Who were the last non-champions to make the playoff round or the equivalent?
We made the 1st round in the uefa cup (arm patches and all) in 2008 & Europa league playoff round in 2009.

Pat's were indeed the last non champions to make the playoffs of the tournament they entered. Beat Valletta and Krylia Sovetov before losing out to Steaua Bucuresti in the Europa League playoffs.

[Straightstory]

A great night. So pleased for Pats and Rovers. (And Larne too).

[2 Year Contract]

Minimum of 10 games left. Crazy year for such a mid LOI season.

Clubs in 5th and 7th reaching the playoff rounds… This years’ league must be the best standard the LOI has ever been at ;)

[sbgawa]

I think its 1.7 extra less 4 charters and player bonus payments and 4 away trip accomadation....maybe 1m net minimum. Even if lost every match

[Nesta99]

I personally didn't give them much chance tonight after what I felt was an awful performance last week, pitch and weather notwithstanding. Glad to be proven wrong. Much the better side tonight.

Was BATE V Dundalk like (has to be mentioned), hang in 1st leg and hit them at home - Rovers didnt finish them off in 90 but ET did what was needed. Fair play, have showed glimpses of full potential over this tie. Genuinely now the FAI Cup issue is a distraction, pick up results in the group games and well eclipses the financial return and a top 3/4 is still on in the league anyhow. Its a smack in the gob for a gobby Celje manager. Pats looked good for their round win also so all in all not a bad season for LoI in Europe when it was looking grim. If only Derry had played to any kind of potential and there should have been at least 2 more wins...a far too common observation this last while with them, as they go on and win the league now lol.

[holidaysong]

So how much € did Rovers make from winning EL Q3 and what does making the Conference group stages entitle them?

They're on €3.26 million minimum even if they lose every game from here.

[Nesta99]

Clubs in 5th and 7th reaching the playoff rounds… This years’ league must be the best standard the LOI has ever been at ;)

I was just thinking not bad for the worst standard LoI season ever! The draws werent gimmes either bar Derry. It'd be nice to have this kind of progression in Europe annually as a minimum. Next year could be a mare draw wise but Champions should always be in the Conference play-off/groups and the rest through a round or 3 depending on some luck. I know a lot of people hate the annual LoI in Europe love in, but until the league really has a long lasting credibility that is added to by coefficients, I aint going to begrudge any club progress. I do believe in the rising tide raising all boats!

[legendz]

Have Pat's benefitted from a seeding by being cup winners? I know they had a by from Q1. Shels drew Zurich in Q3. Zurich lost out tonight. Derry's conquerers lost out to Copenhagen.

[2 Year Contract]

Have Pat's benefitted from a seeding by being cup winners? I know they had a by from Q1. Shels drew Zurich in Q3. Zurich lost out tonight. Derry's conquerers lost out to Copenhagen.

No, just started in the second round but they were unseeded against both Vaduz and Sabah (and Basaksehir also now)

[2 Year Contract]

Didn’t see any of the rovers match but just saw this clip, the keeper nearly took his head off! :) Mad aul decision that it wasn’t awarded by the ref without VAR intervention

https://x.com/mcdermott951/status/1824181136014082154?s=46

[Nesta99]

Its probably a really stupid question with an obvious answer but how or when do unseeded clubs take a seeded clubs position in a draw after beating a seeded side. So St Pats beat Vaduz and Sabah, both seeded (?) but now have a very tough tie. Is it due to a few round being drawn in advance? No dount when this is answered i will feel like a plank!

[CorribsideSteve]

Was BATE V Dundalk like (has to be mentioned), hang in 1st leg and hit them at home - Rovers didnt finish them off in 90 but ET did what was needed. Fair play, have showed glimpses of full potential over this tie. Genuinely now the FAI Cup issue is a distraction, pick up results in the group games and well eclipses the financial return and a top 3/4 is still on in the league anyhow. Its a smack in the gob for a gobby Celje manager. Pats looked good for their round win also so all in all not a bad season for LoI in Europe when it was looking grim. If only Derry had played to any kind of potential and there should have been at least 2 more wins...a far too common observation this last while with them, as they go on and win the league now lol.

Good shout about the BATE Dundalk tie actually.

I just want to see Rovers take Group stage football more seriously then it appears they did a few years ago. Back then the argument IIRC was that they wanted to balance trying to win the League while trying to manage Euro football at the same time, and the latter suffered. That's not quite the case this time, as they'd probably need to win 8 or 9 of their last 11 games and still need Shels and Derry to cough up enough to make it nervous for themselves. That should allow them to aim for 3rd and Europe next season while giving a few of their next 8 Euro matches a right go, earning even more money.

Its up to the other LOI clubs to keep up with Rovers financially now, and not let the LOI become the SPL where only 1 or 2 teams will ever win it again. Derry were an absolute embarrassment this year and it's hard to know how they improve for next years Euro campaign, but they've a lot of work cut out for them. But Shels impressed me to a degree in their draw against Zurich, and as long as Duffer is there next year, I'd expect him and the team to want more than the 2 rounds they got, particularly looking in St Pats direction and what they've achieved tonight.

[holidaysong]

Its probably a really stupid question with an obvious answer but how or when do unseeded clubs take a seeded clubs position in a draw after beating a seeded side. So St Pats beat Vaduz and Sabah, both seeded (?) but now have a very tough tie. Is it due to a few round being drawn in advance? No dount when this is answered i will feel like a plank!

The rounds are drawn before the outcome of the previous round is known. The club with the higher coefficient is taken to seed those clubs in the next round. Round 2 Vaduz were seeded and Pats weren't. Round 3 Sabah seeded vs Vaduz whose coefficient wasn't high enough to be seeded. Same story in playoff round. Sabah's coefficient not high enough to be seeded.

[Philosophizer]

Great to see positive nights for Rovers and Pats. Congrats to both clubs. It’s nights like this that make the misery of LOI fandom worth it.

[2 Year Contract]

Its probably a really stupid question with an obvious answer but how or when do unseeded clubs take a seeded clubs position in a draw after beating a seeded side. So St Pats beat Vaduz and Sabah, both seeded (?) but now have a very tough tie. Is it due to a few round being drawn in advance? No dount when this is answered i will feel like a plank!

I think when a draw is being done for a round before a result is determined (eg. Vaduz OR Pats vs whoever), they use whichever club has the highest coefficient to represent that tie, then if that coefficient is below the threshold to be seeded in the round that’s being drawn, then they’ll go to the unseeded side. Essentially, if Pats had been drawn against a seeded side with one of the higher coefficients of the seeded sides, then they would likely have played an unseeded side if they advanced

[yurt]

Dreamland night for the co-efficient nerds. 2 Wins add 0.5 points and means we've a great chance finishing 32nd and having a cup winner in the europa league in 26/27 season barring the Russians coming back to Euro competition by then.

8 games in group stage football now increases the importance of making that stage going forward.


30

Slovenia
2.250
3.000
2.125
3.875
3.000
14.250
3/ 4


31

Moldova
1.375
5.250
3.750
2.000
1.625
14.000
1/ 4


32

Kosovo
1.833
2.333
2.875
3.000
2.000
12.041
1/ 4


33

Ireland
1.875
2.875
3.375
1.500
2.250
11.875
2/ 4


34

Armenia
1.375
1.875
2.375
2.250
3.125
11.000
2/ 4


35

Latvia
1.375
2.625
2.750
1.625
2.625
11.000
1/ 4


36

Iceland
0.625
1.500
3.000
3.833
2.000
10.958
1/ 4


37

Faroe Islands
2.750
1.500
2.250
2.750
1.375
10.625
1/ 4


38

Finland
1.375
3.750
2.625
1.750
1.125
10.625
1/ 4



Am I right in assuming that's he best team Rovers have beaten in a tie in their 4 in a row run?

Hope they get to play a few decent sides in the groups now and sell out the 4-sided Tallaght a few times this year.

Hard to completely rule out Pat's causing an upset too. Tone of LOI in Europe '24 has shifted completely in a few weeks.

[2 Year Contract]

Dreamland night for the co-efficient nerds. 2 Wins add 0.5 points and means we've a great chance finishing 32nd and having a cup winner in the europa league in 26/27 season barring the Russians coming back to Euro competition by then.

8 games in group stage football now increases the importance of making that stage going forward.


30

Slovenia
2.250
3.000
2.125
3.875
3.000
14.250
3/ 4


31

Moldova
1.375
5.250
3.750
2.000
1.625
14.000
1/ 4


32

Kosovo
1.833
2.333
2.875
3.000
2.000
12.041
1/ 4


33

Ireland
1.875
2.875
3.375
1.500
2.250
11.875
2/ 4


34

Armenia
1.375
1.875
2.375
2.250
3.125
11.000
2/ 4


35

Latvia
1.375
2.625
2.750
1.625
2.625
11.000
1/ 4


36

Iceland
0.625
1.500
3.000
3.833
2.000
10.958
1/ 4


37

Faroe Islands
2.750
1.500
2.250
2.750
1.375
10.625
1/ 4


38

Finland
1.375
3.750
2.625
1.750
1.125
10.625
1/ 4



Am I right in assuming that's he best team Rovers have beaten in a tie in their 4 in a row run?

Hope they get to play a few decent sides in the groups now and sell out the 4-sided Tallaght a few times this year.

Hard to completely rule out Pat's causing an upset too. Tone of LOI in Europe '24 has shifted completely in a few weeks.

Why would that only be from the 26/27 season onwards and would any positional ranking changes in the intervening years change that or is it this season that’s going to determine which leagues get that EL spot? Also do you know what round in the Europa League qualifiers the cup winner would be starting in? Would be brilliant if we got that parachute down to the Conference League as making the group (league!) stages in the current format is massively difficult for the 3 of our sides that don’t have the CL/EL parachute the way our champions do

[yurt]

Why would that only be from the 26/27 season onwards and would any positional ranking changes in the intervening years change that or is it this season that’s going to determine which leagues get that EL spot? Also do you know what round in the Europa League qualifiers the cup winner would be starting in? Would be brilliant if we got that parachute down to the Conference League as making the group (league!) stages in the current format is massively difficult for the 3 of our sides that don’t have the CL/EL parachute the way our champions do

Positions for Europe next season are already set based off standing last year, so 26/27 are based off how we finish this year.

Cup winners will start in ELQ1 and drop to the next round of the ECL if/when they lose.

[Acornvilla]

I always had faith :D

[TonyD]

A great night to be a Pats fan. Really professional, controlled performance, and lovely to get the win. I know we got the breaks in the tie, with them having a man sent off in both legs, but even at 11 v 11 we were more than holding our own. Dreaming of the group stages now ! Probably not likely, but you never know.

[placid casual]

Glad to hear from those "in the know" that Rovers will "break even" this season - I best put the Bollinger back in the fridge eh!!.
The 1st page of this thread mentions about possible teams Rovers could face in 1st round of ECL, and Celje were marked as one to avoid- I can now quite confidently outline to all and sundry on here that Celje were absolutely woeful,and I mean WOEFUL!
You just never know with European football these days, there's no certainties about any team you may face.
Drogs last Sunday were better organised than them ,and despite Rovers best efforts to make a sows ear from a silk purse we just about managed it and ensured football till Christmas. Thanks to all for their kind words,for Rovers fans like me it was painful to watch at times.
Anyone know the times of flights to farranfore on Sunday?

[Philosophizer]

I can now quite confidently outline to all and sundry on here that Celje were absolutely woeful,and I mean WOEFUL!

I think the euphoria is going to your head. Celje rightly beat you last week and could have easily put you out tonight. You needed a LOI-worthy howler from their keeper and plenty of last ditch blocks and saves to go through.

[placid casual]

You must have been asleep in your metaphysics lectures philosophizer.

[Nesta99]

Glad to hear from those "in the know" that Rovers will "break even" this season - I best put the Bollinger back in the fridge eh!!.
The 1st page of this thread mentions about possible teams Rovers could face in 1st round of ECL, and Celje were marked as one to avoid- I can now quite confidently outline to all and sundry on here that Celje were absolutely woeful,and I mean WOEFUL!
You just never know with European football these days, there's no certainties about any team you may face.
Drogs last Sunday were better organised than them ,and despite Rovers best efforts to make a sows ear from a silk purse we just about managed it and ensured football till Christmas. Thanks to all for their kind words,for Rovers fans like me it was painful to watch at times.
Anyone know the times of flights to farranfore on Sunday?

How would they rate on the Breidablik scale?

[placid casual]

Slightly better, but not by much Nesta ,they really were that poor.
Rovers were very, very average tonight but got the job done,just about:)

[sbgawa]

I think Rovers were good tonight Clarke and Hoonahan missed gilt edged chances and the rovers goal ruled out for offside was marginal. Celje were good I think they were smelling themselves a bit and expecting to win. A great night and at least 8 more games a d football up to Christmas week

[Nesta99]

Slightly better, but not by much Nesta ,they really were that poor.
Rovers were very, very average tonight but got the job done,just about:)

Sums up the last 4 years of LoI quite well too and I dont mean that in a snide way, you only have to be as good as you need to be. Rovers, imo, have been more like what would be expected in Europe this season, last tie in particular. Playing less withing themselves, is it a coincidence that they have been under pressure domestically properly for the first time in the last few? Genuine question. Reading Celje prematch comments they sounded more arrogant than auld bluster, nice to burst a bubble! It shouldnt be a thing but its good to benefit from a clanger in Europe than the usual self inflicted -1 goal handicap.

[ger121]

I think Rovers were good tonight Clarke and Hoonahan missed gilt edged chances and the rovers goal ruled out for offside was marginal. Celje were good I think they were smelling themselves a bit and expecting to win. A great night and at least 8 more games a d football up to Christmas week

You’ve been good in Europe this year. Mixed it up when needed and kept it tight when you needed. The proverbial free hit against PAOK but as seen this week, the Greeks are beatable.

[holidaysong]

Dreamland night for the co-efficient nerds. 2 Wins add 0.5 points and means we've a great chance finishing 32nd and having a cup winner in the europa league in 26/27 season barring the Russians coming back to Euro competition by then.

Just a correction here; 33rd is the place that's enough for the cup winner to go into the Europa League, so we're already where we need to be at it stands. And that's regardless of Russia remaining suspended.

https://rankinguefa.pl/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/20230717_circular_2023_41_en_enclosure_2_access-list-2024-25.pdf

[legendz]

5th and 7th going well in Europe. If they miss out on Europe, are any of the others likely to have an impact on Europe?
Derry are obviously hurting after an embarrassing exit. Shels had a tough draw in Q2.

[holidaysong]

I watched both games and I'm struggling to recall two better results on the same night for our clubs in recent memory.

St Pat's defended well and were solid and played the circumstances very well. Anang would give you a heart attack though. I watched an hour of the Basaksehir match between the two games and unfortunately they do look a level above. Hopefully they're still in the tie after the first leg and send the kids to Oriel Park next Sunday.

Rovers really dominated the match, had much the better chances and the game really shouldn't have went to extra time. Funny that Rovers also played PAOK after getting to the EL group stages in their 2011 campaign (things coming full circle).

[Acornvilla]

5th and 7th going well in Europe. If they miss out on Europe, are any of the others likely to have an impact on Europe?
Derry are obviously hurting after an embarrassing exit. Shels had a tough draw in Q2.
Galway, Waterford and Shelbourne of the likely European qualifiers would very likely be unseeded next year. Could still get lenient enough draws if they play teams from weak nations who are in Europe every year, which I think is what happened to Shelbourne this time around and Pat's being unseeded v Vaduz was about as good a draw as they could have hoped for. Could be far worse in the CL where Rovers and before them Dundalk are often seeded in rnd 1, it probably won't be ideal from a coefficient perspective if all 3 make it.

Strictly from a coefficient/seeding perspective, Rovers,Pats,Derry and then probably Dundalk/Sligo/Bohs could all be seeded in 1st rounds, but only Rovers in the CL, anyone else will be unseeded next year probably?

Rovers would also be seeded in ECL Rnd 2. Rnd 3 is probably a stretch, I doubt anyone else would be close. Pat's will make a big jump in their rankings, but probably still only enough to guarantee ECL Rnd 1 seeding, and them making Europe next year is a stretch. Looks like they've turned a corner and play Drogheda/Dundalk next in the league. How they handle the next fortnight will be massive.

[Kiki Balboa]

There are a lot more lenient draws than a decade ago because of the Conference League. With so many added teams, there is a dilution of standard, which is great for us.

Fantastic results for Rovers and Pats. Really, our league Champions should be expected to get to the group stages every year. Hopefully, with how the league is growing , two teams qualifying is not beyond a possibility that we might see. Would love to see some big scalps too, at least to keep those fawning over the early 2000s quiet.

On a side note, Russia is ahead of us in the rankings. The longer they are out, the more forgotten they are, the harder it is for them to rejoin. Just can't see them ever returning in the current Russian form. No loss to European football - but still an usual situation.

[sbgawa]

There are a lot more lenient draws than a decade ago because of the Conference League. With so many added teams, there is a dilution of standard, which is great for us.

Fantastic results for Rovers and Pats. Really, our league Champions should be expected to get to the group stages every year. Hopefully, with how the league is growing , two teams qualifying is not beyond a possibility that we might see. Would love to see some big scalps too, at least to keep those fawning over the early 2000s quiet.

On a side note, Russia is ahead of us in the rankings. The longer they are out, the more forgotten they are, the harder it is for them to rejoin. Just can't see them ever returning in the current Russian form. No loss to European football - but still an usual situation.


Interesting point and the longer they are out the lower their 5 year coefficient becomes which wont help them although could make their teams dangerous unseeded teams

[Partizan]

There are a lot more lenient draws than a decade ago because of the Conference League. With so many added teams, there is a dilution of standard, which is great for us.

Fantastic results for Rovers and Pats. Really, our league Champions should be expected to get to the group stages every year. Hopefully, with how the league is growing , two teams qualifying is not beyond a possibility that we might see. Would love to see some big scalps too, at least to keep those fawning over the early 2000s quiet.

On a side note, Russia is ahead of us in the rankings. The longer they are out, the more forgotten they are, the harder it is for them to rejoin. Just can't see them ever returning in the current Russian form. No loss to European football - but still an usual situation.

It's doubtful that Russia, a European country, will ever return to European football given the current situation. Meanwhile a Middle Eastern country, Israel, is allowed to compete in UEFA comptetions.

The mind boggles indeed.

[sbgawa]

You might have to rename the thread Stu

Assuming we lose to PAOK the Conference time table is
October 3rd, 24th, November 7th, 28th, December 12, 19th
Then the top 24 out of 36 play in 2025.
Top 8 directly through to "round of 16" and the next 16 play off for a spot in the last 16 on the 13th and 20th Feb
Last 16 round is the 6th and 13th March.
It would be realistic to hope to finish in top 24 of 36 in Conference.

In the event we beat PAOK unlikely i know but the League phase of Europa gos all the way through to 30th Jan.

Looks like No off season or a very limited one for Rovers one way or the other.
Ineteresting to see how that plays out

[Partizan]

Galway, Waterford and Shelbourne of the likely European qualifiers would very likely be unseeded next year. Could still get lenient enough draws if they play teams from weak nations who are in Europe every year, which I think is what happened to Shelbourne this time around and Pat's being unseeded v Vaduz was about as good a draw as they could have hoped for. Could be far worse in the CL where Rovers and before them Dundalk are often seeded in rnd 1, it probably won't be ideal from a coefficient perspective if all 3 make it.

Strictly from a coefficient/seeding perspective, Rovers,Pats,Derry and then probably Dundalk/Sligo/Bohs could all be seeded in 1st rounds, but only Rovers in the CL, anyone else will be unseeded next year probably?

Rovers would also be seeded in ECL Rnd 2. Rnd 3 is probably a stretch, I doubt anyone else would be close. Pat's will make a big jump in their rankings, but probably still only enough to guarantee ECL Rnd 1 seeding, and them making Europe next year is a stretch. Looks like they've turned a corner and play Drogheda/Dundalk next in the league. How they handle the next fortnight will be massive.

Given the fact that we (Waterford) haven't played European football since the 1986-87 ECWC, we will take any round as long as we are back in Europe. Although the priority for us this season is survival, Keith Long has been doing an impressive job. Our best hope for European football still remains via the FAI Cup. Just can't see us finishing higher than 5th.

[Partizan]

You might have to rename the thread Stu

Assuming we lose to PAOK the Conference time table is
October 3rd, 24th, November 7th, 28th, December 12, 19th
Then the top 24 out of 36 play in 2025.
Top 8 directly through to "round of 16" and the next 16 play off for a spot in the last 16 on the 13th and 20th Feb
Last 16 round is the 6th and 13th March.
It would be realistic to hope to finish in top 24 of 36 in Conference.

In the event we beat PAOK unlikely i know but the League phase of Europa gos all the way through to 30th Jan.

Looks like No off season or a very limited one for Rovers one way or the other.
Ineteresting to see how that plays out

Which is better for Rovers in your opinion? Conference or Europa League?

[legendz]

There are a lot more lenient draws than a decade ago because of the Conference League. With so many added teams, there is a dilution of standard, which is great for us.

Fantastic results for Rovers and Pats. Really, our league Champions should be expected to get to the group stages every year.
The qualifiers are fraught with danger. Group stage football at least every two years for the champions is probably more realistic. The league needs to be at a level where at least two clubs are getting to the playoffs consistently. Often for the non champions we've seen a Q1 exit, a Q2 exi

[legendz]

There are a lot more lenient draws than a decade ago because of the Conference League. With so many added teams, there is a dilution of standard, which is great for us.

Fantastic results for Rovers and Pats. Really, our league Champions should be expected to get to the group stages every year.
The qualifiers are fraught with danger. Group stage football at least every two years for the champions is probably more realistic. The league needs to be at a level where at least two clubs are getting to the playoffs consistently. Often for the non champions we've seen a Q1 exit, a Q2 exit and a Q3 exit.

[Kiki Balboa]

It's doubtful that Russia, a European country, will ever return to European football given the current situation. Meanwhile a Middle Eastern country, Israel, is allowed to compete in UEFA comptetions.

The mind boggles indeed.

I don't think any reasonable person has any concerns that Russia is gone, or see that they add anything of value.

It's also a bit vulgar to use Israel to OK Russia.

Anyways, I just found the dynamics interesting. Like, where do they go from here (nearly a meta question for Russia itself) , and for European football, one if the largest leagues has been removed suddenly and completely from the ecosystem, and it doesn't make any ripple.

Just, it reminds me that if all those 'Super League' clubs disappeared tomorrow, European Football would still carry on as normal.

Ie. No one club or league is that important , and the Sport is definitely big enough to uphold morals and rules.

- Sorry for tangent after a fantastic night for Irish football

[CSAD]

Must say I hold my hands up on Shamrock Rovers last night, they finally showed up in a big European game and I was impressed! Also confirms what I said after the first game that Rovers made Celje look a much better side then they actually are which we saw last night.

I must say I admire the amount of self confidence teams like Celje have, I wish we could match that, Idk what they've done in the past to have the level of arrogance they have...

[legendz]

I must say I admire the amount of self confidence teams like Celje have, I wish we could match that, Idk what they've done in the past to have the level of arrogance they have...
Did Derry have that arrogance before their Q1 exit?

[CSAD]

Did Derry have that arrogance before their Q1 exit?

Dunno, why are you asking me?

[pateen]

So when are the fixtures out? Wouldnt mind popping home for Pats game.

(Just dont anyone tell my Cork mates)

[niallsparky]

Which is better for Rovers in your opinion? Conference or Europa League?

I reckon you have to take Europa for the money and the profile. Will be less competitive, and timeline is annoying but overall more beneficial.

[kksaints]

So when are the fixtures out? Wouldnt mind popping home for Pats game.

(Just dont anyone tell my Cork mates)

Our home leg is next Thursday at 19:45 in Tallaght. Away leg is the Wednesday 28th in Istanbul.
The Dundalk match could and selfishly should have to be moved as Sunday to Wednesday isn't a good time gap.

[pineapple stu]

You might have to rename the thread Stu
That's for a mod to do, not me!

[Kiki Balboa]

Our home leg is next Thursday at 19:45 in Tallaght. Away leg is the Wednesday 28th in Istanbul.
The Dundalk match could and selfishly should have to be moved as Sunday to Wednesday isn't a good time gap.

No chance Dundalk, or the FAI, should do that.

That would just be screwing over Dundalk.