[article]European victories a timely boost for summer soccer
Quote:
European victories a timely boost for summer soccer
Emmet Malone
On Soccer: Clubs who favour a return to a winter season were quick to seize upon the recent collapse of Dublin City as further evidence of how the switch to the summer months has failed to deliver the much-anticipated improvement in the Eircom League's fortunes.
Financially speaking, they're right. After a small but significant initial improvement overall attendances appear to have stagnated at most clubs, while a number have experienced serious declines. In several cases the falls can be directly attributed to a downturn in the particular team's fortunes but a number do appear to have a strong case that they are, for various reasons, losing out at the turnstiles.
Advocates of the change, though, received a timely boost to their campaign to maintain the new calendar last week in the form of outstanding European wins for Drogheda United and Derry City.
One of the main aims of the adoption of a summer season was always to make Irish clubs more competitive in Uefa competitions and Thursday night provided the most clear-cut evidence to date of the extent to which the move has, in this area at least, succeeded.
Both clubs performed strongly to make it through to the second qualifying round of the Uefa Cup but Derry's achievement in beating a side of the calibre of IFK Gothenburg, winners of the competition back in 1987, both home and away is perhaps the most quietly impressive.
It should, however, be viewed very much as part of a clear pattern that has emerged over the past few years and one that is inextricably linked both to the growing professionalism of the country's leading sides, who now take on foreign counterparts, while in the middle of their domestic campaigns rather than, in some cases, a month before the start of the league.
The history of Irish clubs' encounters with Swedish sides is instructive. Prior to 2004 clubs from the league here had been drawn against opponents from that country five times. On each occasion the Republic's representatives had been eliminated and Cork City' 1-0 win over Gothenburg in 1999, when the tie had effectively been lost with a 3-0 defeat two weeks earlier, stands out as the only win in 10 matches played.
In the past three seasons, however, City got the better of both Malmo and Djugardens, while Derry have now completed a remarkable hat-trick with their defeat of Gothenburg.
Drogheda's defeat of HJK Helsinki, meanwhile, was the first defeat of a Finnish side in four attempts by an Irish outfit and the two wins have, combined with the win and draw secured by Cork City against Apollon in the Champions League, helped Ireland climb to a provisional 37th place on Uefa's ranking list.
That may not seem all that impressive at first glance but it is a significant improvement on the place in the mid-forties collectively occupied by Irish clubs just a few years ago and there appears to be good reason for believing that, having started last season in 40th position and this year in 38th, the upward momentum can be maintained.
It will not be easy. The biggest turnaround in recent Irish fortunes has come in the Inter Toto Cup which doesn't count for the purpose of Uefa calculations. Instead, Uefa award points for wins and draws by clubs representing countries in its main two competitions after which they divide by the number of clubs to obtain a score. Each country is ranked on the basis of its clubs' performances over a period of five years.
Ireland has so far amassed 1.666 points this season and just one more draw from the minimum of five games remaining for Cork, Derry and Drogheda would mean that last year's tally of 1.833 would be equalled. Given the Uefa Cup pairings unveiled last week it does not seem unreasonable to hope for at least a little better than that but even that score, produced consistently over a five-year period would carry the league into the top 30 with resulting benefits in terms of seedings.
The Swedes are currently ranked 26th while Cyprus are 29th and Finland 32nd. And fans can now go to games with a reasonable expectation of seeing an Irish victory. Counting Shelbourne's outings in the Inter Toto and viewing, as Uefa do, Drogheda's extra-time defeat of Helsinki as a win, Irish clubs have won seven and drawn two of 11 European games this summer. It's a record but worth noting that they also won seven between them in 82 outings through the 90s.
It might be argued that only the top sides are benefiting from this transformation but it would be foolish to pretend that the public perception of a league is not shaped to a huge extent by the performances of its leading clubs. Only European football provides a sceptical public with a truly objective measure of the progress being made by the game here and for years those inclined to belittle the league could count on an annual shipment of ammunition.
Even the frustration of those inclined to be highly supportive occasionally spilled over, as with the call for the withdrawal of all Irish clubs from European competition in the wake of St Patrick's Athletic's humiliating defeat at the hands of Zimbru Chisinau back in 1999.
Since then there have, naturally enough, been hiccups but for the most part solid progress has been made. Reversing those gains would seem a high price to pay to discover whether the public really is, in certain parts of the country at least, itching to see their local team back playing in the cold, wind and rain.
© The Irish Times
Totally agree. We are really motoring now !!
