A sight that you don't see very often.
An Irish team being drawn from the European pot. Only the third time in history to be exact. But that was the case today as a minnow team from a minnow's league (5th position) has now been drawn against some of the top, mid range European clubs.
After today's draw they will face.
- Arsenal
- Rapid Vienna
- Molde
- Dundalk FC
A tough group in all honesty with three recognized European competitors. A 3-1 victory against Faroe Island side KI, (no idea who they are) was the final victory need to hit the bumper payday that is the Europa league.
Ref:Alamy.com
While top clubs might sniff at playing in this competition and field weakened teams. For a club coming form Ireland with a league winning prize of 100k. Gaining access to a guaranteed €3M payday is nothing to turn away from.
Money like this is a way to dominate the national league for the next few years if managed correctly and enough to build up better foundations to do it again in the future by investing in the club and investing in the youth. If Irish teams could start qualifying for these competitions on a more regular basis that money would filter back into the national league and raise it's standard and profile for years to come.
As it stands our national league is a joke and one that has been neglected for a long time by the powers that be. Mostly amateur.
Constantly on the brink of bankruptcy and without a solid fanbase it's a wonder that we can produce any player for the national team at all. The best of the crop quickly move to England for it's money and academies but with the right investment and long term planning this could be turned on it's head.
That however requires a level of planning and foresight that to date hasn't been shown by anybody on the governing body of Irish soccer. Hopefully by getting some of our teams onto a bigger stage we will see more incentive to make it happen.