A crowd of 32,774 turned up at the Aviva Stadium last night to cheer the Republic of Ireland against England in their Euro 2025 Qualifier.

That did not match the number for the Northern Ireland game at the venue last September but it was twice the size of the crowd in France last Friday and a respectable 50 per cent of the Wembley Stadium attendance for their game on the same night against Sweden.

The demographic of the fan base is probably around 20 years younger than would be the case for a Men’s international and that explains why a Saturday afternoon game is better suited than a school night Tuesday but that will come.

The thought that such a number would be considered the norm a mere four to five years ago would have been dismissed but that is the new reality of a team that has worked hard to build an identity with its fanbase.

The fans know the players and there was an extra buzz last night with so many recognisable names and faces from the Lionesses team that had won the last Euro’s and qualified for the last World Cup Final.

There was a danger that the bubble was deflating with England 2-0 up and a second penalty given after only 20 minutes but the width of the post stopped the ebbing tide and excitement levels remained high and grew higher as the game progressed.

The introduction of Megan Campbell and the threat of her long throws raised the temperature and the pitch of the cheers that greeted every Irish attack will still be ringing in ears this morning.

Sweden are up next at the Aviva Stadium at the end of May and there is a full round of fixtures in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division across Saturday afternoon and evening. No Katie McCabe at those games but plenty of local heroes for the young fans to latch onto and further deepen their connection to the game.

No points and no goals from the two qualifiers so far but this is football at the highest level and the love affair with the fans continues.

 

Sport for Business Perspective:

There is nothing like the experience of being there but for many fans, it was a TV viewing option last night and RTÉ stepped up with full coverage on RTÉ2.

That choice was made over showing the UEFA Champions League match which was moved to the News Channel and the RTÉ Player, still watchable and still free-to-air.

Social Media has become an ever less enticing place to browse but the commentary from some on there about RTÉ’s choice of games was a pretty low point.

Why people should think, let alone broadcast their views that a Champions League clash where the only Irish interest was our historic connection to Jack Grealish should have precedence over the national team playing against England in a Euro Qualifier is beyond me.

 

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