Geysir will probably be on to correct me, but nearly sure KA play or did play in the same stadium as Thor. It was a Kip. The Oriel of Iceland. Bit rich coming from them if their own ground is not up to much.
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No excuses? What's he excusing them from? they won - or maybe it just hasnt quite sunk in that they have progressed, the drilled default answers of a team expecting to lose.
The dressing rooms under the stand are fantastically awful, good old fashioned discomfort for visitors (that are commonplace for the home side), not that long ago there werent even showerheads in the showers, just a pipe to stand under.....there has been progress in that regard so never let it be said the place is never upgraded! Never cared what anyone said about the pitch until the recent O'Donnell comments.
Yes I will correct you:). Thor a mid table 2nd div club (did I ever mention they hammered Bohs 5-1), their football grounds are basic, open seating for a few hundred, but showers/dressing room are clean, appropriate and definitely fungus free. Thor are a multi multi sports club, their indoor facilities are thoroughly modern, complete with indoor pitch. It was their handball team that merged with KA. KA football team play in midtown, their ‘stadium‘ is much bigger, although about 50 years more modern than Oriel, it is being totally rebuilt and that's why KA's euro games were moved to Reykjavik.
It is not just the danger of picking up diseases in Oriel pk, there is also the threat of aquiring brain/nerve damage on the pitch. Dundalk’s primitive football is a potential heath hazard.
One local sports journalist noted that a KA central defender had to head the ball out over 40 times.
Football in Iceland isn't always a bed of roses, sometimes the basic subs bench is not for the faint hearted, no one ever expects the sudden onslaught of the arctic blizzard!!
https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...d-blizzard.jpg
Screw Balls.ie.
They don't give two hoots about the League of Ireland.
Not one report this week on Euro games and never any match previews or results
All they're interested in is bad news stories like crowd trouble or the one above for the league.
Complete tat news stories like 'Watch Roy Keanes reaction to ... '
Lowest intellect of sports journalism on line. Don't fall for their click bait or ****e for that matter.
Balls.ie gave St Pats' unusual goal in Europe plenty of highlights.
Miked the Bradley story down at Cork when he was targeted by 3 supporters about his son.
If anything, Balls.ie does its best to run down the league beyond normality. Absolutely pathetic
For those of you crazy enough to watch an extra 90 minutes of Sunday football, follow the link to watch Tobol’s home game against FC Kaysar. It’s live and free. You only need to sign up.
https://onefootball.com/en/match/2363414
The talented winger who played for Midtylland youths against Bohs a few years ago is about to sign for Lazio for 17m.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lazio are set to sign top talented winger Gustav Isaksen, here we go! Deal being sealed with Midtjylland around €17m package ??? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lazio?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lazio</a><br><br>Medical tests booked on Monday and one more signing after Daichi Kamada. <a href="https://t.co/zR6HjYtpXP">pic.twitter.com/zR6HjYtpXP</a></p>— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) <a href="https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1687866611280269312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
What is actually needed to bring Oriel Park into the 20th Century? There is a 99 year lease, but what does that mean practically? Is the only benefit of that nominal rent? Do Dundalk have to wait on the whim or wish of the leaser to do anything worthwhile to the ground, as it appears that they have very little say as things stand.
Edit: 21st Century (honest mistake)
A wrecking ball!
The lease isnt a major issue and the Casey Trust wouldnt obstruct ground development. Aside from funding, planning could be a massive hurdle to overcome. In particular traffic management issues on match night and potential limitations on attendances. Oriel is exempt from certain requirements for such facilities due to the length of time its there basically. Build 'New' Oriel and exemptions no longer stand so the impact of a new development is open to all the rigours, rejections, objections and appeals of the planning system. Parking and traffic are an issue though the change in attitude toward this may be of benefit. Some people in the area would object to a library being built for too much noise so there would be a battle on some level. All that said, the sooner plans are submitted the sooner these issues can be faced up to. We are also heading in to a period where the national purse strings have been loosened and there is less outrage at funding non essential projects - that wont last forever, Euro finals application is another reason to get going with plans immediately and be part of that 'legacy'. with some creative thinking a new build could tap in to the carbon neutral buzz, an interested FAI etc. Should not let another ship sail on this!
If Derry go through, they'll play one of:
1: KAA Gent (BEL) / MKS Pogo Szczecin (POL)
2: Aris Thessaloniki FC (GRE) / FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
3: LOSC Lille (FRA)
4: FC Viktoria Plze (CZE) / Gzira United FC (MLT)
Lille would be very tough - could be a hammering.
Most of those teams (apart from Gzira) are a good step above our league, but that’s what happens when you progress in Europe. There is some hope though. Linfield scored a few against that Polish side and in recent years LOI sides performed admirably against Greek and Czech opposition.
Anyway, let’s try get past the Kazakhs first.
Good Lord - thischarmingman is a blast from the foot.ie past!
Welcome back!
They drew Viktoria Plzen (Czechia) or Gzira United (Malta). Best draw they could get really.
If Gzira manage to fluke past Plzen then it’s definitely the best draw, but I think that’s unlikely.
Plzen are always strong - reached CL group stages last year.
I thought the most potentially winnable and realistic opposition would have been Aris (Greece) or Pogon (Poland). Neither of them have massive European pedigree in the past few years and both finished a bit off the pace domestically last season. That said Plzen only finished 3rd in Czech last season, 10 pts off the big Prague clubs.
Tough, but could have been worse, I suppose.
TBH, not confident of getting past FC Tobol. Beating Basel was some job, even if Basel were very poor. They beat Honka 2-1 in the first round, and we know we can beat a Finish team too.
Last year, they beat Lincoln Red Imps, then lost to Zrinjski of Mostar.
In 2021, they beat Hadjuk Split, then lost heavily to Zilina.
If we were playing in the Brandywell, it could be a different story. I reckon Tobol are worth their 4/6 odds of going through.
Can’t disagree with any of this. If the home leg was in Bradywell it would be close to a 50/50 tie.
It’s not much of a silver lining, but I’m sure plenty of LOI neutrals around Dublin will head along and support Derry - I will anyway! I think Derry are a v well liked club in that respect.
By all acounts, Glentoran were clearly the better team against Gzira, home and away. And although they have no-one to blame only themselves eg missed a penalty during regular play in both legs, the Glens "should" have gone through.
Would agree with Philo that if DCFC could get through to play Gzira then they should have a v.good chance of progressing. But while one of those could happen, it's hard to predict both.
Derry looking to play their home game at Windsor Park,makes sense…..
Genuinely surprised that the club are asking for this, but great stuff!
90 minutes versus 4+ hours on a work night. If UEFA / FAI agree then sensible option
Very inconsiderate on us poor dubs :)
Windsor definitely the logical choice. I suppose we couldn’t have even asked for it earlier as Linfield may have still been in competition but hopefully not too late. If get the go ahead and can keep the tie alive you’d think we could get a bumper crowd in Belfast. A handy ~1hr 15min drive now and a significant Derry contingent in Belfast anyway.
With Derry’s unique position I could definitely see UEFA agreeing. Would there be agreement from the IFA ? As you said earlier, the opponents could get awkward about it too. Apart from anything else I’m sure they’d prefer to have Derry discommoded by having to travel as far as possible, and play in front of less of their own support.