If you go looking for the Aviva Stadium in Dublin 4 tonight you might struggle. The ground has been renamed as the Dublin Stadium by UEFA who insist on a clean stadium when bringing the Champions’ League show to town, and it is some show.
Dundalk stand on the brink of a greater achievement than any Irish sports club in history if they can beat Legia Warsaw and secure a place in the group stages of the richest sporting competition in the world.
They would be guaranteed more money by coming through this two legged affair than most Irish sports could thrive on for a decade.
They will bid for glory in front of a crowd that should exceed 30,000 with 26,000 tickets already sold in advance.
The crowd though will find plenty different from the last time they visited the Aviva, sorry Dublin Stadium.
Volunteers have been drafted in to apply coloured stickers to seats that would normally spell out the insurers name.
The advertising hoardings around the pitch will carry the logos of brands like Nissan and Mastercard and the Champions’ League brand itself will be fully to the fore.
The Irish teams of those brands are excited about the prospect of activating such a global event with a first ever local presence and the pay off for Ireland in general terms from success tonight and next week will be enormous.
See Dundalk’s ‘Captain’s Armband’ story in our Daily Video Series
A request from UEFA to cover up the large Aviva identifier on the outside of the ground was declined by the FAI on the basis of time and cost but the governing body has put in a huge effort with a team of ten assigned to assist Dundalk in planning for the biggest event in the clubs history.
The game will be broadcast live on RTE and on eirSport, shifting Olympic coverage from the former and giving the latter another string to its campaign. It promises to be a great night for Irish sporting we will be there to bring you the news on how the commercial partners of the tournament and the team have been able to make it pay for them.
