Ryan treble as 10-man Larne make history in Europe

Larne have made history by becoming the first Irish League club ever to make the group stages of a European club competition as an Andy Ryan hat-trick saw them defeat Lincoln Red Imps 4-3 on aggregate in the Uefa Conference League play-off.

Leading 2-1 from the first leg, Bernando Lopes’ goal extended the Gibraltarian champions’ advantage but Ryan responded with two penalties before half-time and a late winner after Chris Gallagher had been sent-off for two bookable offences.

The Irish Premiership champions will now join the likes of Chelsea and Panathinaikos in Friday’s draw for the group phase in Monaco.

Qualification will see Larne receive approximately £2.6m in participation money, plus £336,000 for a win and £112,000 for a draw, a financial windfall in Irish League terms.

They can boost their coffers further based on media rights.

The east Antrim club’s progression is the latest stage in a remarkable transformation of their fortunes which has seen them advance from languishing at the bottom of the second tier of Northern Ireland football in 2018 to becoming successive Premiership champions in 2023 and 2024 and now making the group stages in Europe.

The club’s history-making exploits have been achieved with the help of significant investment from owner Kenny Bruce, plus the introduction of a full-time model in recent years with the help of the vision of manager Tiernan Lynch.