LOI In Europe 2025

[Nesta99]

So at HT Rovers are comfortable. If they can avoid being hit on the break as these lads are quick, they dont look like creating a whole lot otherwise - lashing in shots after a ball breaks when a tidy passes are on in better positions. On the on the other hand SC look a bit vulnerable to Rovers buildup play especially down the left, their the ones hoofing the ball away rather than passing it out. Unusual to see I think. I know Rovers dont have to force the game but regardless, they have been composed, tidy, probing selectively and creating chances.

[joey B]

Maybe, or maybe as predicted prior to the tie, he’s playing against an absolutely awful football team from a league ranked 15 below our own ;)

Theres no place for logic here!

[ger121]

Linfield , apart from Shiels and the no 9, are shockingly bad, really miles off it.
Shels are a solid Loi premier side, top 3 guaranteed, full time and it shows.
I would love to see the two clubs’ budgets because I reckon the billy boys are being ripped off big styleeee, first div Loi, and nowhere near play off at best.

I’d go as far as to say that Linfield are not even as good as Larne in Europe, who have done much better in recent years when it comes to getting results home and away.

[ger121]

I see Reijka got battered 5-0 by PAOK. Be just Shels luck to draw them again.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Some save by McGinty

[Nesta99]

Was about to shaout about the need for subs as Rovers were losing the foothold. The difference it makes to have a keeper than can be trusted and able to bail out a side. It was close to him but was coming at pace pretty close and to get it up and over the bar. Was a good save and not a looked good and should be saved one.

[ger121]

Well done Shels. Hope they can get a decent draw.

[holidaysong]

Wow. If you'd told me 20 years ago one Irish team reaching group stages in a season, I'd have hardly believed it but two in one season is mental stuff.

[Depps]

That was pretty impressive from Rovers. Looked so comfortable for all but the last 5 minutes and should have had it wrapped up long before then… and this is against a Portuguese team! 2 teams in the group stages. What is the world coming to??

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Shams were very comfortable there for most of the match. Some going against a team who were 5th in Portugal.

Do the other clubs get double the payments from UEFA now?

[ger121]

Wow. If you'd told me 20 years ago one Irish team reaching group stages in a season, I'd have hardly believed it but two in one season is mental stuff.

If you told me 14 years ago this week, when Rovers won in Belgrade that we would not only qualify for groups regularly, but would have 2 teams in the main phase in the same season, I would not have believed you.

[Calcio Jack]

Ollie already weaving his majic in heaven to ensure both teams got through

[D24Saint]

Shams were very comfortable there for most of the match. Some going against a team who were 5th in Portugal.

Do the other clubs get double the payments from UEFA now?

Double payments ?

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Double payments ?

Looks like last years payment was divided by 9 so assume it’s divided by 8 this time

[pineapple stu]

But is there more to be divided by 8?

Or is the total pot set by country rather than teams in the group stage?

[total hoofball]

I don't care if Linfield are around Cork City's level, it has been a professional performance under challenging circumstances since Duff's sudden departure over the past two months from Joey O'Brien/Luke Byrne/Coaching Staff/Players resulting in this huge achievement for the club

I certainly don't like Shamrock Rovers and I definitely don't like to praise them but that is an incredible achievement to successfully navigate through three ties to make a Conference League group stage while in the play-off defeating the 5th place team in the Portuguese league, it's astonishing that Stephen Bradley after what he has achieved for them was under any type of pressure from certain quarters within the club during the past 12 months

[holidaysong]

I don't care if Linfield are around Cork City's level, it has been a professional performance under challenging circumstances since Duff's sudden departure over the past two months from Joey O'Brien/Luke Byrne/Coaching Staff/Players resulting in this huge achievement for the club

I certainly don't like Shamrock Rovers and I definitely don't like to praise them but that is an incredible achievement to successfully navigate through four ties to make a Conference League group stage while in the play-off defeating the 5th place team in the Portuguese league, it's astonishing that Stephen Bradley after what he has achieved for them was under any type of pressure from certain quarters within the club during the past 12 months

It was only three ties... Let's not get carried away. :)

[yurt]

Impressive stuff from both sides. Shels to finally, in their fourth attempt, actually convincing beat Linfield over 90 minutes (with 11v11 no less), and for Rovers to keep a clean sheet and (for the most part) look so comfortable playing against such a decent technical outfit.

Really looking forward to the next 4 months of being able to watch Irish football teams 4 nights a week. It will actually end up playing a massive part of the discourse in Irish sports media if their is going to be so many games involving irish side most nights of the week.

The draw will be pretty interesting now. Hopefully both sides get a decent mix of winnable and interesting fixtures. Congrats to both fanbases, hope ye get some decent holidays out of it!

[Buckett]

Congratulations to the FAI for creating the environment for Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers to succeed

[Nesta99]

This is timely progession for the senior game at a time of change. It makes it much harder for the middle tiers to dismiss LoI out of hand. If schoolboys and LoI have a symbiotic relationship out of mutual necessity then the squeeze can be put on other factions. Does it help raise the value of players league wide simply due to people taking notice, of course it will take a few years more of regular qualifying for groups and more of having more than the champions in groups but its a beginning. With crowds trending up, maybe plateauing a bit this could inject some more of taking the league more seriously and helping lift things. Adds weight to the argument on need for government investment on league infrastructure. Its a positive period for LoI even for those who see teams getting European money and fear that they'll dominate - i'm not sure it will be any more than clubs having their dominant spells as before. Anyways congrats to both clubs tonight!

[total hoofball]

It was only three ties... Let's not get carried away. :)
Ah thanks just edited, obviously Shels ecstasy tonight resulting in me slightly overpraising Rovers!

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

But is there more to be divided by 8?

Or is the total pot set by country rather than teams in the group stage?

Looks like it’s one country pot and if teams qualify for groups they’re not eligible for it.

[holidaysong]

Legia, Poznan, Celje, Drita, Shkendija, Humrun Spartans. That's a perfect draw.

[holidaysong]

I can't find a way to post an image, so here's an uglier version.

Pot 1

Italy Fiorentina CC: 62.000
Netherlands AZ Alkmaar CC: 54.500
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk CC: 52.000
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava CC: 33.500
Austria Rapid Wien CC: 32.250
Poland Legia Warsaw CC: 31.000

Pot 2

Czech Republic Sparta Prague CC: 29.500
Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv CC: 23.500
England Crystal Palace CC: 23.039
Poland Lech Poznań CC: 19.000
Spain Rayo Vallecano CC: 18.890
Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers CC: 17.875

Pot 3

Cyprus Omonia CC: 17.375
Germany Mainz 05 CC: 17.266
France Strasbourg CC: 14.618
Poland Jagiellonia Białystok CC: 14.000
Slovenia Celje CC: 14.000
Croatia Rijeka CC: 12.000

Pot 4

Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski Mostar CC: 10.000
Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps CC: 10.000
Finland KuPS CC: 10.000
Greece AEK Athens CC: 9.500
Scotland Aberdeen CC: 9.500
Kosovo Drita CC: 9.000

Pot 5

Iceland Breiðablik CC: 9.000
Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc CC: 8.820
Turkey Samsunspor CC: 8.780
Poland Raków Częstochowa CC: 8.000
Cyprus AEK Larnaca CC: 7.500
North Macedonia Shkëndija CC: 7.500

Pot 6

Sweden BK Häcken CC: 7.000
Switzerland Lausanne Sport CC: 6.725
Romania Universitatea Craiova CC: 6.500
Malta Hamrun Spartans CC: 6.000
Armenia Noah CC: 5.500
Republic of Ireland Shelbourne CC: 2.993

[placid casual]

Relatively straightforward from Rovers tonight against a surprisingly limited Portuguese side- perhaps the drop off from the big four is much starker than first imagined.
Rovers looked comfortable enough once there were no mistakes at the back, but I wasn't overly impressed with us going forward,but maybe I'm just becoming blasé about another ECL league qualification 😉.
Look forward to the draw tomorrow and see where the team I love will take me around Europe.🤩

[sbgawa]

There shoukd be more countrynmoney in the pot. Its devided on the basis of tv viewing figures or somethjng like taht so with twice a s many teams as last time the figures should be higher

[ger121]

Legia, Poznan, Celje, Drita, Shkendija, Humrun Spartans. That's a perfect draw.

But for who Kammy.

[ger121]

I can't find a way to post an image, so here's an uglier version.

Pot 1

Italy Fiorentina CC: 62.000
Netherlands AZ Alkmaar CC: 54.500
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk CC: 52.000
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava CC: 33.500
Austria Rapid Wien CC: 32.250
Poland Legia Warsaw CC: 31.000

Pot 2

Czech Republic Sparta Prague CC: 29.500
Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv CC: 23.500
England Crystal Palace CC: 23.039
Poland Lech Poznań CC: 19.000
Spain Rayo Vallecano CC: 18.890
Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers CC: 17.875

Pot 3

Cyprus Omonia CC: 17.375
Germany Mainz 05 CC: 17.266
France Strasbourg CC: 14.618
Poland Jagiellonia Białystok CC: 14.000
Slovenia Celje CC: 14.000
Croatia Rijeka CC: 12.000

Pot 4

Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski Mostar CC: 10.000
Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps CC: 10.000
Finland KuPS CC: 10.000
Greece AEK Athens CC: 9.500
Scotland Aberdeen CC: 9.500
Kosovo Drita CC: 9.000

Pot 5

Iceland Breiðablik CC: 9.000
Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc CC: 8.820
Turkey Samsunspor CC: 8.780
Poland Raków Częstochowa CC: 8.000
Cyprus AEK Larnaca CC: 7.500
North Macedonia Shkëndija CC: 7.500

Pot 6

Sweden BK Häcken CC: 7.000
Switzerland Lausanne Sport CC: 6.725
Romania Universitatea Craiova CC: 6.500
Malta Hamrun Spartans CC: 6.000
Armenia Noah CC: 5.500
Republic of Ireland Shelbourne CC: 2.993

Pot 6 looks tougher than Pot 4 & 5.

[EatYerGreens]

Shels are a solid Loi premier side, top 3 guaranteed

That's a big call to claim that Shels are guaranteed a Top 3 finish, They're currently in 6th place and 6pts off of 3rd, with an inferior goal difference (though they do have a game in-hand. I'd say that Rovers and Bohs will definitely finish above Shels, with Derry and probably also Drogs favourites to finaih above them too. So they could finish 3rd, but it's by no means guaranteed. And I would suggest it's currently looking unlikely.

[EatYerGreens]

Spare a thought tonight for Damien Duff lads. He could've given his CV a massive boost by taking "Little Old Shels" (TM) to the European group stages - basically achieving the maximum possible within Irish football, before presumably having offers roll in for him from Championship or SPL clubs (especially if he had performed miracles in the group stage). But because he threw a hissy fit a couple of months ago he'll spend the Autumn playing Football Manager on his XBox instead.

As they say 'The genius is in the choices', Damien :eek:

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Listening to RTE sports news on the radio and they’ve interviewed Ed Ginty. They couldn’t care less about the league.

[pineapple stu]

I can't find a way to post an image, so here's an uglier version.

Pot 1

Italy Fiorentina CC: 62.000
Netherlands AZ Alkmaar CC: 54.500
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk CC: 52.000
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava CC: 33.500
Austria Rapid Wien CC: 32.250
Poland Legia Warsaw CC: 31.000

Pot 2

Czech Republic Sparta Prague CC: 29.500
Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv CC: 23.500
England Crystal Palace CC: 23.039
Poland Lech Poznań CC: 19.000
Spain Rayo Vallecano CC: 18.890
Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers CC: 17.875

Pot 3

Cyprus Omonia CC: 17.375
Germany Mainz 05 CC: 17.266
France Strasbourg CC: 14.618
Poland Jagiellonia Białystok CC: 14.000
Slovenia Celje CC: 14.000
Croatia Rijeka CC: 12.000

Pot 4

Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski Mostar CC: 10.000
Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps CC: 10.000
Finland KuPS CC: 10.000
Greece AEK Athens CC: 9.500
Scotland Aberdeen CC: 9.500
Kosovo Drita CC: 9.000

Pot 5

Iceland Breiðablik CC: 9.000
Czech Republic Sigma Olomouc CC: 8.820
Turkey Samsunspor CC: 8.780
Poland Raków Częstochowa CC: 8.000
Cyprus AEK Larnaca CC: 7.500
North Macedonia Shkëndija CC: 7.500

Pot 6

Sweden BK Häcken CC: 7.000
Switzerland Lausanne Sport CC: 6.725
Romania Universitatea Craiova CC: 6.500
Malta Hamrun Spartans CC: 6.000
Armenia Noah CC: 5.500
Republic of Ireland Shelbourne CC: 2.993
Those seedings are a bit mental. Rovers seeded ahead of Mainz and Strasbourg and alongside Palace and Vallecano? You could get Lincoln Red Imps, Breidablik and Hamrun Spartans from the bottom three pots, or AEK Athens, Samsunspor and Lausanne.

I wonder will UEFA look at the balance between good side in a poor league v poor side in a good league in future years? It seems a bit off

[redarmyfaction]

Listening to RTE sports news on the radio and they’ve interviewed Ed Ginty. They couldn’t care less about the league.

The attitude of RTE towards LOI going back 5 decades has has hovered between condescension and derision, when that is they were actually aware of the leagues existence.

[Acornvilla]

Spare a thought tonight for Damien Duff lads. He could've given his CV a massive boost by taking "Little Old Shels" (TM) to the European group stages - basically achieving the maximum possible within Irish football, before presumably having offers roll in for him from Championship or SPL clubs (especially if he had performed miracles in the group stage). But because he threw a hissy fit a couple of months ago he'll spend the Autumn playing Football Manager on his XBox instead.

As they say 'The genius is in the choices', Damien :eek:
I think it has been said here repeatedly before but sure look, fwiw, Duff said a few times he moved home so his kids could grow up here, I don't think he has any appetite to go looking for work abroad, if he did he wouldn't have left the Celtic first team setup surely.

Think management might just not suit his temperament but I hope he pops up somewhere working in an academy again, man has plenty left to give Irish football hopefully.


I've grown to like this Swiss league group stage thing tbh, gives everyone in the competition a few big games and a few games they can notionally get results. Much better than small clubs unexpectedly qualifying and then getting an impossible group as 4th seeds. Much more opportunity for clubs and by extension smaller leagues, to build their rankings over a number of years.

We've gotten a huge head start on other similar small nations, very glad both teams got through because I still feel this will be rare enough for a while. The EL and ECL qualifying routes are tough, plenty big clubs are out, look at Besiktas!

[2 Year Contract]

I saw a weird quirk of the Swiss league in relation to UEFA places that some fellow UEFA nerds might be interested in.

Servette finished 2nd in their league which saw them start in the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League. They lost to Plzen in that round, then dropped to the 3rd QR of the Europa League where they lost to Utrecht, then dropped to the Playoff Round of the Conference League where they lost to Shakhtar Donetsk last night, leaving them with no league phase European football this season.

Meanwhile Young Boys, who finished 3rd in the league started their campaign in the Playoff Round of the Europa League, where they beat Slovan Bratislava to qualify, but even if they had lost they’d have been guaranteed Conference League league phase football for this season.

Because Basel who won the league also won the cup (which gives a Europa League place to the winner) that goes to the next best placed team in the league that isn’t in the CL qualifying, which was third placed Young Boys. So in short, Servette would’ve been better off finishing 3rd in the league rather than 2nd

[pineapple stu]

It's not a Swiss setup by the way - a Swiss format (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament) is where teams (or players) play an opponent on the same score as them in each round (or as close as possible to their score). So if you win matchday 1, you're paired against someone else who won matchday 1.

I'm not really sure why UEFA call it a Swiss model - the only real similarity I think is that all teams/players are in the one tournament, you only play a certain number of them (6 in the Conference League for example) and in the end all players are ranked in one table. But the key part - how your opponents are selected - is quite different.

(Seeing as 2 Year Contract brought up the subject of UEFA nerds :p)

[sbgawa]

I love the new format playing 6 different teams is brilient.
It gives you the excitement of playing a Chelsea without the fact that its just two guaranteed lossess

[sbgawa]

Uefa cant help themselves, they always want to spin it out with BS. just get on with the feckin draw, no one cares about a cheap version of david copperfield

[ger121]

Uefa cant help themselves, they always want to spin it out with BS. just get on with the feckin draw, no one cares about a cheap version of david copperfield

I started watching the stream and was like WTF…

[sbgawa]

Jeez from cut price david copperfields to expensive wedding bands......do the draw.......im not nervous at all 😀

[pineapple stu]

Conor Kearns up against Troy Parrott will be an interesting one!

[sbgawa]

At home to shatkar donesk....plenty of ukranians here so shoukd be decent away support

[pineapple stu]

Crikey - that was quick once the top teams were gone!

Rovers have - Shakhtar (H), Sparta Prague (A), Celje (H), AEK Athens (A), Hamrum Spartans (H) and Breidablik (A)

AEK a rough fourth pot, but they should do alright there

Shels at home to Palace.

[2 Year Contract]

Rovers would do well to get anything more than 9 points from those games. 3 tough and 3 handy games (handy for this stage of the competition)

[pineapple stu]

And for Shels it's -

Alkmaar (A)
Palace (H)
Drita (H)
Celje (A)
Hacken (H)
Shkendija (A)

Damien Duff back as Shels manager according to the host (whose voice I recognise - but can't place the name...?)

[Acornvilla]

Damien Duff's Shelbourneâ„¢ will never die

I think both draws are ok. Rovers last season might have been a tad easier maybe but both teams have at least 2/3 games where there's points there for them, who knows!

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, Shels have a nice middle duo (Drita and Celje) - they can get points there. AZ and Palace obviously no chance, and the bottom two are tough enough when compared to Rovers.

[ger121]

Maybe 7 points will be the cut off again. I wonder if it might be even 6 because I feel the level of teams this year is higher.

[sbgawa]

Shakter beat Besitkas home and away 2 nil and 4-2 just to put a LOI form on it who put Pats away easily in Tallaght and gave them a 2 goal start in Turkey before switching on and running out winners
On that basis we wont be laying a glove on Shakter......hopefully its our last match bit like Chelsea was a free hit

As Stu says, Athens was a bad draw , we could have had Lincoln Red Imps or even Aberdeen which would have been intereting in terms of levels between Scotland and here....and cheaper

[pateen]

Where will Shels play their home games?