European breakthrough top of the agenda

Progress has been steadily building within the Airtricity League in recent years, yet qualifying for a major European competition remains the final frontier for the league.

In many ways, it seems crude to suggest that piercing the bubble that has held Irish clubs back on the European front should be the main collective goal as having a sustainable league is undoubtedly more important.

However, the domestic scene is looking a lot healthier these days. Perhaps it is down to the medicine that the FAI forced down the throats of certain clubs or just the fact that things have to be run in a better way has finally hit club officials.

Whatever the reasons for it, there is no overbearing sense of apprehension that previously engulfed the league and surely that is the biggest sign that things are ticking along at the right pace.

So, should one be bold enough to direct their gaze towards Europe and ask if this is the year that Airtricity League clubs finally make the breakthrough?

Well, why not? The four clubs – Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk and Sporting Fingal – involved this year are all well equipped to deal with the demands that playing against foreign opposition brings.

They have constructed well-balanced squads and all have managers in place who have displayed a knack of being able to change systems and tactics for certain games or whenever their original approach doesn’t go according to plan.

But each of the quartet should thread forward carefully. The task of reaching the group stages of the Europa League or the Champions League has become ever more difficult and the near misses suffered by Airtricity League clubs in recent years provides the perfect warning.

Maybe it is asking too much of the four participants to reach the group stages of the respective competition they have qualified for. After all, other European nations have consistently performed better at this stage and would surely be in a more advantageous position to progress further.

Perhaps one should set the bar a little lower and suggest that two of the four Irish clubs reaching the final qualifier and just missing out to high-profile opposition would be considered as a massive leap in the right direction. Or is that being wildly unambitious and not trusting in the quality that the clubs possess?

Whether fans of the domestic game want to admit it or not, there is a real fear that if one of the clubs did make the breakthrough then they might turn out to be the whipping boys of their group. If that happened, then it could have a hugely negative effect on the league.

In contrast to this, one won’t know if that would be the case until a club actually does qualify. Besides the financial reward, the increased media coverage and experience of seeing Airtricity League players test themselves at a higher level could aid the long-suffering pursuit of attracting new supporters (and sponsors) to the league.

The results that Shelbourne, Drogheda United and St Patrick’s Athletic have achieved in recent seasons has helped to lift Ireland up UEFA’s coefficient list as well as giving hope to the aforementioned quartet of matching their exploits.

Although it is now a case of trying to overcome the next hurdle and seeing if this can, indeed, be the year when the breakthrough happens. If it is, then the future of the league will be a lot brighter.