There were big wins in Europe last night for SSE Airtricity league of Ireland clubs Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic.
Rovers won 3-1 after extra time against Slovenian side Celje and now face PAOK of Greece in Thessaloniki next week.
Win over the two legs and they go into the lucrative group stage of the Europa League, lose and they are still into the group stage of the Europa Conference League with the potential of English Premier League teams coming to Tallaght Stadium.
The prize money is a guaranteed €3.8 million from UEFA and that will rise if it is the Europa League as well as with avery point secured in the games.
It is only the third time that rovers have qualified for these group stages and it means a n autumn and winter of excitement for the fans and the players.
They could yet be joined by St Patrick’s Athletic after a 1-0 win away in Baku put Stephen Kenny’s side only one round away from the same Europa Conference League.
While Rovers head to Greece next week, Pat’s will be temporarily moving into Tallaght Stadium to host Istanbul side Basaksehir, before heading to the Turkish capital the following week.
Imagine having to consider kick off dates and times to accommodate two sides from Dublin playing group stage European football.
That is the big time.
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