UEFA recently released the latest All-Time European Cup/Champions League Standings.
Despite Dundalk’s recent successes, it is in fact Shelbourne FC that is the highest-ranked League of Ireland club in 150th place.
Shels find themselves ranked higher than a number of traditional heavyweights such as Everton, Hertha Berlin and Torino.
The performances of the Tolka Park outfit also exceed that of their three main rivals – Bohemians are the next highest Dublin club in 183rd, while the Southside didn’t fare nearly as well as the Northside. Shamrock Rovers are 237th while St Pat’s are 345th.
Shelbourne’s high ranking is the result of their continental success in the 2000s. A 3-1 aggregate loss to Odense Boldklub of Denmark in the second round of the now-defunct Intertoto Cup in 2006 signalled the end of, but did not reflect, the most successful decade achieved by any Irish club in continental football to date.
The Reds’ accomplishments from the late 1990s through to 2006 have significantly improved the League’s co-efficient, meaning Shels’ successors in representing Ireland now have a shorter route to the later rounds. Despite this, league clubs struggle to perform consistently abroad.
Here’s a look at the top three European moments in Shelbourne’s 121-year history.
3. Shelbourne 2-1 Belenenses – Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round 1964/65.
After heavy defeats at the hands of Sporting Lisbon and Barcelona in the previous two seasons, Shels faced Belenenses of Portugal in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – an invitational tournament to promote trade between European cities.
The significance of this tournament for the Reds is that the club’s first European win came in it. The Reds drew 1-1 in Lisbon – their first result on foreign soil – and 0-0 at Dalymount. The tie preceded the away goals rule but Shels won the coin toss for home advantage in the replay and beat the Portuguese side 2-1. Shelbourne faced Atlético Madrid in the second round and lost both legs 1-0.
2. Shelbourne 2-0 Hajduk Split – UEFA Champions League second qualifying round 2004/05
Number two on this list belongs to the night that produced that goal by Dave Rogers.
Although it was Alan Moore who scored the goal that put Shels 4-3 ahead on aggregate, many Reds forget that Rogers’ goal levelled the tie at 3-3 and Shelbourne would have progressed on away goals anyway.
Hajduk Split were so heavily favoured to sweep Shels aside that a group of Split fans famously dug 11 graves into the pitch at the Stadion Poljud after the Croatian side were eliminated in Dublin.
Of course, the tie is more fondly remembered in these parts for being the gateway to…
1. Shelbourne 0-0 Deportivo de La Coruña – UEFA Champions League third qualifying round 2004/05
The tie at the top of this list was never in any doubt. Irish champions Shelbourne, whose average league attendance was a little over 2,000, hosted the previous season’s Champions League semi-finalists in front of 25,000 people at Lansdowne Road.
The Deportivo team boasted stars such as Diego Tristán, Juan Carlos Valerón, Fabricio Coloccini and future World Cup winner Joan Capdevila. The clean sheet kept by the Reds that night against one of the four best teams in Europe is still probably the greatest ever achievement by an Irish club side.
REPORT: Aidan Geraghty
