The Champions League has returned and the first qualifying round has already thrown up a fixture that promises to be full of edge. Dublin’s League of Ireland champions Shelbourne take on Belfast’s Irish Premiership winners Linfield, in a cross-border meeting of Irish titans that will be anything but dull.
It is only the third time clubs from Ireland and Northern Ireland have faced each other in European competition, with teams from the south winning on both previous occasions. Shelbourne have had a rocky defence of their title so far, made all the worse by Damien Duff’s decision to step down as manager just two weeks ago. They sit in fifth place, fourteen points behind leaders Shamrock Rovers.
Linfield are still in pre-season mode, as unlike the League of Ireland, which runs from February to November, the Irish Premiership runs concurrent to the UK season schedule. They may be a little match-rusty, but will be able to call upon most of the squad that helped them canter to a 57th Irish Premiership title last season, a world record number of titles for a national league.
Broadcasting headaches, fan frustration and the North/South focus
A lot of the focus leading up to the match was on how the broadcasting rights would allow fans on both sides of the border to watch their teams in each respective leg, given the potential for geo-blocking between the countries. Thankfully, for the first leg at least, both BBC Northern Ireland and RTÉ will air the clash, either via their respective websites or on live television. At the time of writing, only the BBC Northern Ireland has picked up the second leg, with RTÉ turning down the option to stream or broadcast the match in Ireland.
The allocation of only 280 away tickets for the first-leg game in Dublin has deeply frustrated Linfield fans.. This was mainly due to UEFA’s seating-only policy, which required Shelbourne to reduce capacity at Tolka Park for this match.
No matter how much the North/South aspect of the match is downplayed, the ban on national flags and the Garda’s (Irish police) provision of an escort for Linfield fans to the stadium highlight that, despite the low risk of tensions, a sense of caution will always accompany matches between teams from either side of the border.
Shelbourne will go in as favorites to proceed over the two legs, but this should be a tight encounter, with a lucrative financial reward for progression into the next round at stake and, of course, bragging rights for the fans to hold over their counterparts.
