League of Ireland in Europe 2016

[ger121]

Nice of UEFA to do us a turn for once we were shocking in both legs and still got through.To Minsk !

Presuming Dynamo win that tie. A 1-0 home win and they are out.

[pineapple stu]

Couple of great results for the Gibraltar teams this year - Lincoln 3-2 Flora Tallinn is almost an aggregate result in the CL First Round, while Europa beat Pyunik Yerevan 2-0 in the Europa League last week.

That was good in a way for Ireland, as had both Gibraltar teams lost, both the Estonian and Armenian leagues would have overtaken us in the rankings, pushing us down to 46th. But as it is, the Gibraltar league has 1.250 between this season and last, compared to our 1.200. Granted, they've only two teams and they start in an earlier round of the CL, both of which help, but still, hardly encouraging stuff!

[Nesta99]

I know it was well explained by Dodge and Seand but it still seems odd to me that clubs/leagues dont get awarded co-efficient points as if they had won in the round prior to where clubs enter There is little advantage to jumping in at CL Q2 if you could be seeded in Q1 win 2 rounds, like TNS, and be seeded in Q2. But as ive said before I probably havent got a grip on the workings of the whole thing really.

[outspoken]

Just a quick thought. If the LOI was to fall down the rankings so low and our clubs had to start in the 1st round could it be a positive? More games = more prize money and better chance of winning games in Europe.

[Nesta99]

Go back a few pages and it is well explained. The change from 2009 has confused me plenty with Leagues having greater weighting than individual clubs... I think. Need to read back myself!

[pineapple stu]

Just a quick thought. If the LOI was to fall down the rankings so low and our clubs had to start in the 1st round could it be a positive? More games = more prize money and better chance of winning games in Europe.

No, it would not be a positive. It'd mean we'd fallen that low through another couple of years of bad results, there'd be no extra prize money, and better chance of winning is irrelevant if you've to win more matches just to get to the same level - in fact, by definition, we'd be much less likely to get through QR2 than we are at present, which would cost us prize money and profile.

The LoI has nothing to gain from starting in QR1 of the Champions' League.

[El-Pietro]

No, it would not be a positive. It'd mean we'd fallen that low through another couple of years of bad results, there'd be no extra prize money, and better chance of winning is irrelevant if you've to win more matches just to get to the same level - in fact, by definition, we'd be much less likely to get through QR2 than we are at present, which would cost us prize money and profile.

The LoI has nothing to gain from starting in QR1 of the Champions' League.

An individual club might do well, especially if they were seeded in the first round as they would have an extra game, but the league as a whole would have nothing to gain. Of course, if you play in the first round and lose you get less prize money, and less club coefficient, so there is plenty to lose. Its disheartening that we are even in a position to be having this conversation.

[El-Pietro]

Interesting to see that 3 of the 4 first round seeds were knocked out in the CL, though there is likely marginal difference there.

[El-Pietro]

Blech, wikipedia had the (a) for away goals next to Torshavn rather than Valetta. Two of the four seeds won.

[oriel]

Is this the first season in a decade that the Irish Lge champions start in round 2? I noticed Crusaders play Cophenagen next week, but last year they started in round 1.

I hope their manager hasn't booked his summer holiday again, almost sure he missed one of their legs last year due to an 'already booked family holiday', you couldn't make it up.

Anyway good luck to both our clubs tonight, Cork might find it tougher than they think but they should be strong enough to to go through, they just need to watch the away goal, but their defence is usually water tight. I don't see Rovers getting anything, but maybe if they score first, very long shot though.

[shefellover93]

Live coverage of tonight's Europa League game, coverage begins at 7pm!

[Dodge]

Is this the first season in a decade that the Irish Lge champions start in round 2? I noticed Crusaders play Cophenagen next week, but last year they started in round 1

The new arrangements only started in 2009-10. They started in the 2nd QR all years except
2012 Linfield beat B36 of Faroes on away goals
2015 Crusaders beat Flora Tallinn on away goals

The number of teams starting in QR1 has changed too
2009 - 4
2010 - 4
2011 - 4
2012 - 6
2013 - 4
2014 - 6
2015 - 8
2016 - 8

[dundalkfc10]

Oriel sold out for next Weds night! Great to see considering the poor crowds we have had latley!

Bandwagon well and truly alive

[oriel]

Oriel sold out for next Weds night! Great to see considering the poor crowds we have had latley!

Bandwagon well and truly alive

I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere and I was surprised to hear this, given our average has dropped to 2,500, plus fans usually buy tickets over the weekend and in the run up to the match.

There is a limit capacity of 3,100 for this game though, so I would expect all tickets to sell, just not sure it's sold out yet!

[dundalkfc10]

I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere and I was surprised to hear this, given our average has dropped to 2,500, plus fans usually buy tickets over the weekend and in the run up to the match.

There is a limit capacity of 3,100 for this game though, so I would expect all tickets to sell, just not sure it's sold out yet!

They are all sold apart from the away end. They are still awaiting conformation from Iceland to how many tickets they require before realising more to Dundalk.

[nigel-harps1954]

Do Dundalk actually get use of the seats on the away terrace for European games or just the small section in the main stand? I don't think it's actually possible for anyone over about 5 foot in height to sit in those seats.

It's also another year where Dundalk missed out on putting a temporary stand up behind the nets to increase capacity.

[White Horse]

It's also another year where Dundalk missed out on putting a temporary stand up behind the nets to increase capacity.

My understanding is that a club cannot put up a "temporary" stand for a Champions League game. It can put up a demountable stand but it would have to be up well before the game and considered "permanent". This makes it unattractive from a financial point of view.

[dundalkfc10]

Do Dundalk actually get use of the seats on the away terrace for European games or just the small section in the main stand? I don't think it's actually possible for anyone over about 5 foot in height to sit in those seats.

It's also another year where Dundalk missed out on putting a temporary stand up behind the nets to increase capacity.

We already did this, well Rovers built us one for League Cup final and one last game V Cork.

No need for it next week V an Iceland side! 3,000 odd seats will be enough!

[nigel-harps1954]

Demountable stand or whatever they call it then, if indeed the game is already sold out, in hindsight, another 1,000 seats would have made all the world of a difference in financial terms.

If Dundalk do manage to get through, I'd assume they'll have to move the next round to Dublin to meet further infrastructural criteria?

[Mr A]

The seats would probably costs as much to put in place as they'd bring in so they'd make feck all difference financially.