Our Wee Country

Cliftonville out of Europe. Is this one of the worst results by an Irish League club in Europe?

I do think summer football may help but Linfields problem is not keeping the ball well enough. I'm not sure that's down to lack of match fitness.

Summer football may help, but Dungannon Swifts notwithstanding, the IL's four European places are generally switched around between the same 6 or 7 clubs. Which would become self-perpetuating, as those clubs earned so much more than the rest of the league that the other clubs could never again compete. Ever.

Which would mean there could be no hope of another Loughgall/Ballinamallard/Ballymacash/Warrenpoint emerging, or the resurgence eg of Larne/Bangor/Portadown etc after they had struggled for a period. Instead the IL would merely become "The Belfast League (+ 1 or 2)".

And does anyone really want that?

Always been of the view we need to try summer football to try and have a big go in Europe.

Couldn't agree less!

The LOI moved to a summer season in 2003. And if you compare their UEFA Club coefficient for the 10 years prior with the 10 years following, there was no discernable effect at all i.e. some years they moved up a notch or two, some they fell back the same.

Of course, they have done rather better in recent years, but that was due to two things. First some exceptional management at individual clubs eg Michael O'Neill at Shams, or Stephen Kenny at Dundalk, neither of which were maintained immediately after they left.

And second (and more importantly), significantly more investment in the leading LOI clubs by wealthy benefactors, which allowed for a greater level of professionalism throughout the whole set-up, the top tier of 10 clubs in particular. (Note, too, that despite this investment, the clubs down there are virtually all losing serious amounts of money each year, as they chase the European Pot of Gold).

Now fair play to them, assuming it doesn't all fall down financially, they should be commended for these developments, but do not imagine that a switch to a summer season would automatically lead to greater progress in Europe for the IL Rather our clubs need to improve our own professionalism, to move us towards eg Larne's exploits, and away from the (frankly) amateurish approach of IL clubs in the past where eg Crues started a European campaign with Stephen Baxter still abroad on holiday! (Don't blame SB btw). Or TNS, in a Welsh winter league which is even weaker than the IL, have also managed to make progress in Europe. Why? Because they too have a benefactor who's put money into making them a f-t professional club.

And talking of Larne, it is interesting to note that last night they overcame a Latvian side AET on penalties, despite the fact that Lativa operates a summer season too! Nor should it be overlooked that only 7 or 8(?) countries out of 55 in Europe operate a summer season, meaning that our having a winter season should not be any disadvantage in the majority of cases. So that should eg Cliftonville fail to overcome Gibraltarian opposition tonight, they will have only themselves to blame.

All of which is before you get to the issue of when the other clubs outside the top two tiers of the IL would play should the latter move to summer football. Would the whole of the rest of the game, Intermediate and Junior, also switch? For if not, then you'd see the situation they've had down south, where they've been utterly unable to date to introduce a proper pyramid, to expand and develop the game beyond the same 18 or 20 clubs who've made up the LOI for decades, with the rest of the game completely cut off. (And yes, I know they're trying again right now to remedy that, but it remains to be seen how, or even if, their new 20 team, two division National League 3rd tier will work.).

To my mind, the biggest bearing on the IL's prospects for Europe is the massive, recent increase in UEFA participation money even at Conference level, such that clubs will now start taking European football far more seriously. And assuming they do, then the better organised ones, at least, will see the rewards, winter season or no.

"Here endeth the Sermon for today..."

Watched the Linfield game last night. The difference between the teams, I thought, came down to one thing; how many games each had played up to this point. Shelbourne, for all the much vaunted superiority of the league they come from, weren't great, producing the sort of barely adequate huff and puff performance a latter day Glentoran team displays in mid-January, when they realise the League's out of reach for another season. If Linfield had, say, 15 league games under their belt, Shelbourne would have been despatched with ease. And, frankly, given the two sitters Linfield conspired to miss, they should be rueing another wasted opportunity to progress.

As per IFA:
"The two play-off games are scheduled to be played on Fri.24 and Tue.28 October, with the first leg being staged in Northern Ireland."
https://www.irishfa.com/news/2025/june/northern-ireland-to-face-iceland-in-uwnl-play-offs?utm_source=crm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20250606_Newsletter&utm_content=story3cta