THERE WAS A strong FAI contingent in Tolka Park for Shelbourne’s 3-1 win over Linfield in the first leg of their Uefa Conference League play-off on Thursday night.
That might seem like stating the obvious but it hasn’t always been the case during this European campaign involving League of Ireland clubs.
Senior men’s manager Heimir Hallgrímsson was back in Drumcondra after sitting alongside Linfield boss David Healy for Shels’ Europea League defeat to Rijeka earlier in the month.
This time it was his assistant, John O’Shea, side by side as the pair continue their preparation work for the squad announcement on Tuesday for the opening 2026 World Cup qualifying double header with Hungary and Armenia in early September.
Hallgrimsson and O’Shea were bunkered down in Abbotstown before going their separate ways over the weekend to take in some games and catch up with players.
Ireland U21 boss Jim Crawford was there, too, and while coach Stephen Rice had been in tandem for previous trips to watch Shels and St Patrick’s Athletic in European action his absence became clearer the following morning when Brentford confirmed the Dubliner’s appointment as their new set-piece coach.
It’s a position that became vacant after Keith Andrews was promoted to the head coach role at the Premier League club.
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The FAI are also in the final stages of a process to fill an important vacancy, and the presence of three more decision makers at Tolka Park was telling.
Chief executive David Courell has been no stranger to Tolka Park but, flanked by FAI president Paul Cooke and board director Packie Bonner, their presence did pique interest.
Bonner also chairs the international and high-performance committee and it’s The 42’s understanding that the trio – Courell, Cooke and Bonner – have had a busy week along with chief operating officer Christina Kenny as the final stage of interviews for Marc Canham’s successor as chief football officer take place following an earlier round that whittled down the shortlist to the preferred candidates.
Bonner’s fellow board member Caroline Rhatigan was also in attendance at Tolka, as well as the current interim technical director Shane Robinson. The former Rovers midfielder had been Canham’s assistant director of football previously and did much of the heavy lifting during the Englishman’s notice period that officially ended when he left the FAI in late July.
Whether a recommendation is made to the board for an appointment in time for their meeting on Tuesday remains to be seen, and just to add to the flurry of activity for the association SIPTU this week released a statement on behalf of its union members employed by the FAI raising “serious concerns over its strategic direction, the credibility of its Transformational Programme and threats to the game at grassroots level.”
As previously detailed by The 42 at the start of this month, details of that “Transformational Programme” have played a significant part in the low morale among a 251-person staff that are fearing job cuts in a company with debt levels in the region of €40 million and has been in the process of budgets cuts.
“Our members working in the FAI, which includes workers throughout the organisation, fear that the current approach risks undermining Irish football from grassroots to elite level,” SIPTU Sector Organiser Robbie Purfield said.
“This is not just about protecting our members, it is about the survival and development of football at every level in Ireland.”
Tuesday’s board meeting could prove revealing in more ways than one, and while it takes place on the same day as Hallgrimsson’s squad announcement the focus for most in Irish football will be the second legs of the Uefa Conference League play-off.
Shels head to Windsor Park with that two-goal advantage while Shamrock Rovers returned from the Azores with a stunning 2-1 win away to Santa Clara of the Portuguese top flight.
They finished fifth in their domestic division last season, which is ranked seventh by Uefa, and per database kassiesa.net it is a standalone away win for a League of Ireland side against the highest ranking league since Bohemians beat Kaiserslautern, then of the fourth-ranked Bundesliga, 25 years ago.
Both sides have so much still to do if they’re to break new ground and reach the league phase of European competition together.
Should both get the job done, projections place Rovers in pot two alongside the likes of Crystal Palace and Dynamo Kyiv, while Troy Parrott’s AZ Alkmaar are set to be in pot one beside Fiorentina.
Shels would be in pot six, meaning the potential for their third goal scorer on Thursday Evan Caffrey to face his cousin Gavin Molloy should Aberdeen earn their place in pot four.
Just like some major decisions off the pitch for the FAI and men’s boss Hallgrímsson, there is still plenty to be decided on it too.
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League of Ireland clubs primed to break new European ground at a time of more FAI flux
THERE WAS A strong FAI contingent in Tolka Park for Shelbourne’s 3-1 win over Linfield in the first leg of their Uefa Conference League play-off on Thursday night.
That might seem like stating the obvious but it hasn’t always been the case during this European campaign involving League of Ireland clubs.
Senior men’s manager Heimir Hallgrímsson was back in Drumcondra after sitting alongside Linfield boss David Healy for Shels’ Europea League defeat to Rijeka earlier in the month.
This time it was his assistant, John O’Shea, side by side as the pair continue their preparation work for the squad announcement on Tuesday for the opening 2026 World Cup qualifying double header with Hungary and Armenia in early September.
Hallgrimsson and O’Shea were bunkered down in Abbotstown before going their separate ways over the weekend to take in some games and catch up with players.
Ireland U21 boss Jim Crawford was there, too, and while coach Stephen Rice had been in tandem for previous trips to watch Shels and St Patrick’s Athletic in European action his absence became clearer the following morning when Brentford confirmed the Dubliner’s appointment as their new set-piece coach.
It’s a position that became vacant after Keith Andrews was promoted to the head coach role at the Premier League club.
The FAI are also in the final stages of a process to fill an important vacancy, and the presence of three more decision makers at Tolka Park was telling.
Chief executive David Courell has been no stranger to Tolka Park but, flanked by FAI president Paul Cooke and board director Packie Bonner, their presence did pique interest.
Bonner also chairs the international and high-performance committee and it’s The 42’s understanding that the trio – Courell, Cooke and Bonner – have had a busy week along with chief operating officer Christina Kenny as the final stage of interviews for Marc Canham’s successor as chief football officer take place following an earlier round that whittled down the shortlist to the preferred candidates.
Bonner’s fellow board member Caroline Rhatigan was also in attendance at Tolka, as well as the current interim technical director Shane Robinson. The former Rovers midfielder had been Canham’s assistant director of football previously and did much of the heavy lifting during the Englishman’s notice period that officially ended when he left the FAI in late July.
Whether a recommendation is made to the board for an appointment in time for their meeting on Tuesday remains to be seen, and just to add to the flurry of activity for the association SIPTU this week released a statement on behalf of its union members employed by the FAI raising “serious concerns over its strategic direction, the credibility of its Transformational Programme and threats to the game at grassroots level.”
As previously detailed by The 42 at the start of this month, details of that “Transformational Programme” have played a significant part in the low morale among a 251-person staff that are fearing job cuts in a company with debt levels in the region of €40 million and has been in the process of budgets cuts.
“Our members working in the FAI, which includes workers throughout the organisation, fear that the current approach risks undermining Irish football from grassroots to elite level,” SIPTU Sector Organiser Robbie Purfield said.
“This is not just about protecting our members, it is about the survival and development of football at every level in Ireland.”
Tuesday’s board meeting could prove revealing in more ways than one, and while it takes place on the same day as Hallgrimsson’s squad announcement the focus for most in Irish football will be the second legs of the Uefa Conference League play-off.
Shels head to Windsor Park with that two-goal advantage while Shamrock Rovers returned from the Azores with a stunning 2-1 win away to Santa Clara of the Portuguese top flight.
They finished fifth in their domestic division last season, which is ranked seventh by Uefa, and per database kassiesa.net it is a standalone away win for a League of Ireland side against the highest ranking league since Bohemians beat Kaiserslautern, then of the fourth-ranked Bundesliga, 25 years ago.
Both sides have so much still to do if they’re to break new ground and reach the league phase of European competition together.
Should both get the job done, projections place Rovers in pot two alongside the likes of Crystal Palace and Dynamo Kyiv, while Troy Parrott’s AZ Alkmaar are set to be in pot one beside Fiorentina.
Shels would be in pot six, meaning the potential for their third goal scorer on Thursday Evan Caffrey to face his cousin Gavin Molloy should Aberdeen earn their place in pot four.
Just like some major decisions off the pitch for the FAI and men’s boss Hallgrímsson, there is still plenty to be decided on it too.
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