LAST UPDATE | 15 Sep 2022
TRADITIONALLY, these types of opportunities don’t come along very often for League of Ireland clubs.
To compete in the group stages of the competition is still just something that has only been managed four times ever by Irish clubs — Dundalk in 2016 and 2020, along with Shamrock Rovers in 2011 and now.
As seismic as Rovers’ achievement was just over a decade ago in terms of its impact on Irish football at a broader level and how it was perceived increasingly for the better, there is a strong sense that the Hoops did not fully build on that landmark step at the time and instead went backwards, struggling to maintain those high standards subsequently.
Stephen Bradley now has the club at a comparable level again and there is a real feeling of conviction and confidence when it comes to assessing this multi-title-winning side.
For all the euphoria of that memorable night in Belgrade and those unforgettable 10 minutes when they led at White Hart Lane, in 2011, simply being on this stage felt like an achievement for Rovers.
Just as Filippo Giovagnoli’s Lilywhites would do nine years later, Michael O’Neill’s side lost all six of their group games and their campaign ultimately petered out, amid disappointing 4-1 and 4-0 losses away to Rubin Kazan and home to Spurs.
In 2016, however, Dundalk took Irish sides’ progress a step further. Not only did they reach the Europa League group stages, but they put points on the board.
The Lilywhites started especially well, drawing 1-1 away to AZ and earning a first-ever group stage victory for an Irish side at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Like Rovers, they looked increasingly tired as the competition progressed, subsequently losing four successive matches, but they were still in competition to qualify right up until their last fixture — a narrow 1-0 home defeat against AZ. It was further signs of progress as it showed Irish teams increasingly capable of causing problems to teams at that level.
Stephen Bradley and Gary O’Neill didn’t say a great deal at Wednesday’s pre-match press conference, but there was a palpable sense of determination in their tone.
The Rovers boss stated that playing at this level more regularly “has to be our aim”. O’Neill, meanwhile, dismissed any notion that his side were already in bonus territory, insisting “we’re in the group to be competitive” — a claim backed up by last week’s hard-fought 0-0 draw with Djurgardens in Tallaght.
Yet to succeed this evening, they will have to do something no other Irish side has achieved — an away victory in the group stages.
So for an Irish team to pick up points at this level is an immense challenge, as 16 losses, two draws and one win so starkly illustrates.
Yet the Hoops are arguably better prepared than any of their predecessors have been. Bradley has compiled what is surely one of the best squads in League of Ireland history.
Last Thursday’s highly creditable point came despite the absence from the starting XI of players of the calibre of Rory Gaffney, Jack Byrne, Richie Towell, Dan Cleary, Graham Burke, Sean Kavanagh and Neil Farrugia, all footballers, either injured or held in reserve, who would comfortably get into most if not all other League of Ireland sides.
There have been suggestions as well that the sheer number of stars at Rovers’ disposal was detrimental to their heady ambitions, but perhaps the opposite could prove to be the case.
The end of the League of Ireland season tends to coincide with the culmination of the group stages, so it’s no surprise Irish teams have looked somewhat burnt out in the past, given the increasingly intense schedule they are forced to endure.
Yet ‘squad rotation’ is a phrase Bradley has used time and again.
“I trust everyone in the group, I believe in them,” he said after the Djurgardens game. “I genuinely don’t believe we have a strongest XI. To compete on all fronts, we want to win the league, we want to win the cup, and to win games in Europe you need everyone in the squad ready to play, and I believe we have that.”
Highly promising youngsters including Justin Ferizaj and Gideon Tetteh have been among those to benefit from the manager’s refusal to stick too rigidly with specific personnel.
It is consequently an exciting time for the League of Ireland’s most historically successful club. An unlikely win this evening, defying bookmakers’ odds of 8/1, would certainly see that optimism skyrocket.
Gent v Shamrock Rovers kicks off at 5.45pm Irish time and will be available to watch on Virgin Media Two and BT Sport 4.