League Of Ireland comes of age with blockbuster Aviva clash

A sun-free, damp Sunday morning in Dublin 4.

The leafy surroundings of Lansdowne Road, with red brick houses and a Don Johnson-looking man in a gilet taking a Hugo Boss bag out of the boot of his Golf, hardly seems like the natural backdrop for a clash of Phibsborough versus Tallaght but the universe had other ideas.

It isn’t exactly Galatasaray welcoming Manchester United with a “Welcome to Hell” banner in 1993.

The League of Ireland computer churned out an opening weekend match between Bohemians – out to prove a point after fellow Northsiders Shelbourne won their first league title in nearly 20 years last November – and Shamrock Rovers – fresh from maybe the biggest result in the club’s history, a dramatic away win against Norwegian side Molde in the UEFA Conference League.

In normal times, Dalymount Park would be playing host to this fixture, but the extraordinary rise in crowds at Irish football over the last decade has facilitated Dayler receiving the necessary capital to upgrade capacity at the stadium.

With Dalymount out of commission for the next two seasons, as it goes from 4,500 to 8,034 capacity, the Aviva stepped in to host the clash of Northside and Southside.

Dublin 7 versus Dublin 24, the new River Plate versus Boca Juniors is what the kids are calling it.

Passing by Gardaí on horseback and vendors selling scarves and bucket hats, we made our way into the press box at the Aviva.

Among the press corps, conversation centred around whether Shamrock Rovers’ boy wonder, Michael Noonan, would be making an appearance.

Among the Bohs contingent, excitement is building around the new signing Lys Mousset; a player who was in the Premier League five years ago is now lining out for Bohs.

From our vantage point on the higher tiers, it’s clear the action and real buzz are on the lower decks.

The view from the press box is terrific, but an occasion like this made you wish you were there as a neutral.

The most vocal fan contingent, from both teams, are behind the opposite goals. 

Just before kick-off, a technicolour fever dream erupts; Green smoke erupts from Rovers’ end (indicating they have elected a new Hulk) and red smoke erupts from Bohs’ end.

As the game kicks off, the smell of smoke lingers in the chilly February mid-afternoon; a smell League of Ireland veterans are well accustomed to.

For the first five minutes of the game, a helicopter hovers above the stadium, the low whirring adding some bass to the drums coming from the Bohs end.

Flares at the Aviva

Two Rovers bookings in the first 15 minutes and a denied penalty shot makes the first 20 minutes a nervous and tetchy affair, yet there was always a sense that a goal was coming.

A well-worked goal from Bohs on the 24th minute spawned from Lys Mousset finding Connor Parsons who dropped his shoulder, went clean through on goal and hit the post – only for Ross Tierney to be on hand and bury it.

It is a quintessential League Of Ireland goal – Barcelona 2011, this is not – but it’s enough to have Spandau Ballet ring out across the Aviva.

The continental hangover seemed to deeply effect Rovers; two players went off injured within the first 40 minutes and they could not match the high tempo of Bohs.

As for the boy wonder, Noonan showed glimpses of the goalscoring threat that put Molde to the sword and on another day, would have had a goal to his name.

On the Bohs side of the equation, Mousset, despite showing clear signs of rustiness, demonstrates that once his fitness is back his hold-up play will make him a nightmare for League of Ireland defences.

The second half saw Shamrock Rovers fail to make the most of the momentum and Bohs held on for a 1-0 win.

33,208 people were in attendance for the match; a record for a domestic league match in Irish football.

In the post-match press conference, Bohs manager Alan Reynolds said the occasion was “like a cup final” in terms of atmosphere, but was quick to add “in December, when you’re putting in the hard yards, running when no one is watching you, it stands to you on days like today.”

The scale of the occasion is posed to both Reynolds and his counterpart, Stephen Bradley.

Reynolds said of the Aviva “I’d like to see every club here, not just Bohs and Rovers; even if we hadn’t won, it was a great occasion.”

Of course, the choice of venue didn’t stop Reynolds from recognising the historic, local nature of the tie.

“It didn’t matter if it was Tallaght or Dayler – we wanted to win,” he said.

The losing manager, Bradley said the occasion was “another positive step forward for the league – brilliant to see, hopefully, many more to come.”

“It shows that we need the infrastructure and shows what it can be,” however, he tampered expectations.

“This (the game at the Aviva) is great but this is not going to happen every week. We are crying out for facilities. Not just us, not just Bohs, across the board. It has to happen if we are serious about taking the league forward.”

December comments from Irish manager Heimir Hallgrímsson where he said it would be easier to pick players for the national team if they were “playing regularly before the national team comes together” was seen as a backhanded compliment by Bradley.

The mood in the press conference room, expecting a somewhat self-serving questions and answers session about the future of Irish football, shifted when Bradley criticised Hallgrímsson for his comments.

“It was disrespectful to me and the league, telling players they need to leave Ireland to play for the national team. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

“You see the work put in by volunteers then you hear comments coming out of his mouth, it’s not the right message to be sending.”

“This is great, well done to Bohs, attendance shows potential, but let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture. We need real buy-in. Those comments show real disconnect.” 

The match at the Aviva represents a watershed moment for domestic Irish football; in the first season Bradley took charge of Rovers in 2016, the average attendance for the League Of Ireland stood at 1,471.

For the season just gone, the average attendance shot up to 3,490.

Average attendance more than doubling in less than a decade would be the news story in any other context; Bradley’s comments echo a famous election slogan from years gone by.

“A lot done, more to do.”