The schedule for Shamrock Rovers’ upcoming matches has been confirmed, including all Irish dates. The team will commence their season by playing against the Cypriot team, Apoel, on October 3rd at Tallaght. Following this, on October 24th, they will face Larne at Windsor Park. Other fixtures include matches against The New Saints on November 7th, Rapid Vienna on November 28th, FC Borac on December 12th, and lastly, Chelsea on December 19th. Of note is the anticipated match at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea, which is set to occur just less than a week prior to Christmas Day, within the UEFA Conference League group phases. This highly-awaited fixture is predicted to create a large demand for tickets, considering the match will take place at the 40,000-seat stadium.
The Shamrock Rovers are allocated 4,000 tickets for the match against Chelsea, following the rule that visiting clubs are entitled to 10% of the total stadium capacity. Furthermore, European trips for the Shamrock Rovers squad include matches at Windsor Park and Austria’s 24,000-seat Allianz Stadion for the match against Rapid Vienna.
In a thrilling family twist, the all-Ireland derby will present an opportunity for brothers Aaron and Jordan McEneff to go head-to-head. This new Conference League format has set to provide three matches in Tallaght for Stephen Bradley’s team.
In a look back at history, we recall the year 1978 when Rovers’ John Giles and Eamon Dunphy led the team to a 2-0 triumph against Apoel in a Cup Winners’ Cup tie at Glenmalure Park.
One of the most promising upcoming European nights would perhaps be against the two-time Champions League victor Chelsea, showing a striking contrast with the current squad worth of €1.05 billion compared to Rovers’ €4.28 million, as per transfermarkt.com.
However, not to be overshadowed by the Chelsea encounter, Bradley is aiming to further progress to the knockout stages, offering the possibility of an additional €800,000 on top of the already secured €3.17 million for qualification. Additionally, UEFA has put up an award of €200,000 for reaching the playoffs, alongside €400,000 for each victory and €133,000 for a draw.
If the Rovers manage to land within the top eight among the 36 contesting teams, they will be directly advanced to the Last 16, scheduled for March 6th and 13th. Those who rank between ninth and 24th positions must participate in a two-legged playoff taking place on February 13th and 20th, considerably cutting short their off-season.
Premier Sports will be airing all of Rovers’ six group matches live, from October 3rd to December 19th. This Dublin-based channel enjoys sole rights to the Conference League in Ireland, but TNT possesses the capacity to telecast any European match. The first rounds are slated for October 3rd and 24th, with the final games following the Ireland League season’s culmination on November 1st.
Besides Rovers, Larne will welcome Belgium’s Gent and the Swiss team St Gallen at Windsor Park. Managed by Tiernan Lynch, the Co Antrim club made it to the group rounds for the first time post a stirring 3-1 triumph over Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps at Inver Park the past Thursday.
The Rovers and Larne are both guaranteed a lucrative prize money amounting to at least €3 million, outranking St Patrick’s Athletic’s €750,000 earnings obtained upon reaching the Conference playoffs, where they were defeated 2-0 by Istanbul Basaksehir.
Rovers, following a particularly slack domestic season, are presently ranked fifth on the table, one point below Waterford and Sligo Rovers, though they have two spare games. With 10 remaining league games to go, winning all could propel them to 69 points, three short of the previous season’s championship score. The top three and FAI Cup victors bag spots for European competitions the next summer.
In 2022, Rovers under Bradley shifted focus to pursuing a third uninterrupted league championship very diligently, as Derry City posed a threat. Rory Gaffney, the leading scorer of the Conference group stages, remained benched for matches against Gent (Belgium), Djurgardens (Sweden) and Molde (Norway), contributing to Rovers accruing a mere two points with home draw matches against Djurgardens and Gent.
Two years forward, the team has beefed up by retaining Danny Mandroiu on a temporary deal and securing Johnny Kenny, Ireland’s Under-21 striker, on loan from Celtic.
An ongoing conflict persists between the club and RTÉ, following the latter’s decision to air the Tallaght match between Rovers and Sligo Rovers on the 13th of September, which was not agreed upon by the former. The club was notified by the league communications office about the intention of RTÉ to televise the upcoming home league match, according to a statement released last Thursday. The club is currently reviewing its stance on this matter.
The protracted feud between Rovers and RTÉ was further intensified due to the broadcaster’s failure to provide live telecasts of the recent European qualifiers. This was reportedly due to monetary limitations brought about by their coverage of Euro 2024, the Olympics, and the Paralympics.