Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I think European results started to improve around 2000/01. That was the year UCD drew home and away against Kyustendil, Shels beat Sloga before drawing in Norway and Bohs beat Aberdeen before winning in Germany. That was also about when full-time teams started coming in. I think the Bohs game in Aberdeen was mentioned as the first time Bohs (or possibly any LoI side) had fielded an all full-time XI. That was the first time since 1994/95 an Irish team had made it through a round in Europe - and even then, it was Sligo scraping past a Maltese team - and the first time in some 20 years that we'd won away from home.
The following year, Bohs hammered Maardu and game Helsingborgs a close game. Longford put in a very creditable performance against Lovech and were a couple of minutes away from matching our feat of draws home and away.
2002/03 was an unmitigated disaster, but Dundalk were a First Division side and Shels was a one-off.
In 2003, we started into summer soccer properly - and we won one game and lost seven. Following on from that, we've done very well every year.
Conclusion? Summer football has helped European results, but I think full-time teams, proper preparation and confidence have helped just as much, if not more.