The quarter-finals of the FAI Cup will witness a rematch of the 2022 final with Derry City and Shelbourne clashing at the Ryan McBride Brandywell stadium. The Bohemians, who scraped through last weekend against Kerry FC, will now have to journey across Dublin for a match against UCD. In a guaranteed appearance for a First Division team in the semi-finals, Wexford will encounter Athlone Town at Ferrycarrig Park. The remaining fixture involves another Second Division team, Athlone Town, taking on Drogheda United at Lissywollen. These matches will occur from September 13th to 15th.
The team that lifts the FAI Cup will automatically secure a spot in the Uefa Conference League as a second-round qualifier. The historic Aviva Stadium has housed the past three FAI Cup finals where the average turnout has been an impressive 37,806 spectators. St Pat’s were victorious in two of the previous three finals. They managed to defeat Bohs while Derry outplayed Shels in 2022 with a 4-0 win.
Some of the top teams, like Derry or Shels from the Premier Division, could potentially be knocked out earlier, possibly resulting in a First Division showdown in the final on November 10th. Shels and Bohs each have seven victories in the competition history. Derry has six, and Drogheda secured their only title in 2005. UCD and Athlone have won the FAI Cup once in 1984 and 1924 respectively.
The Republic of Ireland manager, Heimar Hallgrímsson, praised the enthusiastic atmosphere during the League of Ireland games he attended. He mentioned his intention to attend more, especially the European games, and noted them as possibly influential for the culture of Irish football. The hope is for both Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic to progress to the group stages.
Hallgrímsson plans to release his inaugural Ireland squad which will face England and Greece in the next month’s Nations League fixtures. He noted the challenging task of keeping an eye on many players who are spread across multiple clubs.
Attention seems to be solely focused on the match with England, however, in my opinion, the confrontation with Greece holds more significance. Perhaps it’s odd to favour this viewpoint, but considering Ireland’s previous two defeats to them during the Euros qualifications, we surely must improve our performance.
Now, moving on to the FAI Cup quarter-final draw reveal:
Bohemians will be up against UCD, Athlone Town will battle with Drogheda United, Treaty United will face Wexford, and Derry City will compete against Shelbourne.