Daniel McDonnell: Irish teams may have domestic goals in sights, but European football pays the bills

As qualifiers from powerful leagues emerge from their slumber to join the fray, scores of lower-ranked teams are culled every fortnight.

The introduction of the Europa Conference League was a political move to prolong the buzz around the continent; it means domestic champions from most countries should still be alive in some capacity well into August.

Before, there was always the possibility that European business in countries such as Ireland would be done and dusted by the end of July. Now, the rewards are greater and so are the prospects of lengthier involvement.

Yet there is a quirky aspect to Ireland’s 2024 story that is out of sync with previous years. Generally, the last teams standing in Europe are trying to navigate those challenges in tandem with fighting for honours at home.

The most memorable LOI runs in Europe have generally been delivered by sides who fitted it around winning a league title; Shelbourne in 2004, Shamrock Rovers in 2011 and Dundalk 2016 are three such examples.

But this year is different. Nobody who watched the first leg will be expecting a Shelbourne comeback against FC Zurich on Thursday. In his interview after a comfortable 3-0 reverse in Switzerland, Damien Duff admitted the primary focus this year was the league and they might have to manage minutes accordingly.

That’s because next Monday they host Derry City in a top-two clash that might prove to be the most significant game of the title race in terms of momentum. Shels are three points clear with a game in a hand; Derry need a result at Tolka Park to reignite their campaign.

They will be well rested after their appalling early European exit to Gibraltarian side Bruno’s Magpies that gave Ruaidhrí Higgins’ side an unexpected summer break.

Financially, the difference between departing in round one and round two is significant. Derry City still earned €325,000 for taking part, but Shelbourne will exit the stage with a €700,000 cheque. With both teams still in the cup, the rest of their year will be centred around local affairs.

For Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic, the picture is completely different. Realistically, they are now looking to Europe to salvage something from their campaign – and help to finance their attempts to do better next time around.

If Stephen Kenny’s Saints hold on to their two-goal advantage against Vaduz on Thursday, they will likely face Sabah of Azerbaijan in the third round.

After receiving a bye through round one as cup winners, they would start that tie assured of €900,000 for their efforts.

Garrett Kelleher seems willing to back Kenny regardless, but further progress would help to soften the blow of missing out on all of this in 2025. Their humbling cup defeat to Derry City makes that a near certainty bar a remarkable series of league results.

Rovers are in a slightly more attractive version of a similar equation; they should still qualify for Europe via the league but a 13-point gap between Stephen Bradley’s side and Shels – albeit with a game in hand – means they are now expected to relinquish their title. Winning one round in Europe as champions guarantees €1.7m and three chances to reach the group stages.

They won’t have those opportunities next year if they start in the third-tier competition. They need to make hay now so 2024 is remembered as a bump in the road as opposed to the point where the club veered off course.

It could certainly be argued that it would be healthier for the league as a whole if another club – be it Shels or Derry – got the chance to benefit from the champions’ route 12 months from now.

Rovers have already reached a group stage under Bradley, yet they failed to really make their mark two years ago because of the distraction of trying to retain their crown.

It created the unfortunate situation where they were effectively resting players for premium ties; they weren’t really able to enjoy the fruits of their labour. A protest lodged with the FAI about their cup defeat to Bohemians means they are still holding out hope of a reprieve in that competition. But either way, the additional attraction of reaching the groups this time around is that they could really have a proper crack at it.

They have travelled to Czechia with Bradley speaking positively about the prospects of a comeback against Sparta Prague tomorrow, but realistically they’ll be preparing to take on Celje of Slovenia or Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League next week.

And if that tricky tie doesn’t work out, the last fortnight in August will be a 180-minute shoot-out worth an additional €2.1m to the winners. Rovers will be guaranteed €3.8m in total if that goes to plan with incentives to follow for any points collected in the group stage.

The fact that the home match with Sparta generated more money in ticket revenue than the FAI prize for winning the league (€125,000) highlights how Europe can pay the bills.

Freed from European distractions, Shels and Derry will spend the rest of their summer scrapping for that lottery ticket. By contrast, Rovers and Pat’s must concentrate all of their energies on short-term gain to offset the damage of long-term pain.