Financial prospects for Rovers in Champions League are huge
By Maurice Garvey
JULY is a crucial month for Shamrock Rovers FC, with top of the league clashes against title chasing rivals St Patrick’s Athletic and of course, the big one for a club with their aspirations – a Champions League tie versus SK Slovan Bratislava.
Unfortunately, no away fans are allowed to attend any of the European qualifying rounds as per UEFA guidelines, but one man who will be on hand to see the club progress on and off the field, is Rovers new Chief Executive Officer Denis Donohoe.
New Shamrock Rovers CEO Denis Donohue
Mr Donohoe, who commenced duties in the role on June 9, is a lifelong Rovers fan and one of the ‘Belgrade 43’ - a group of Hoops supporters who travelled to Serbia in 2011, to watch the team achieve a momentous qualification to the Europa Group stages following a 2-1 victory against Patrizan Belgrade.
The financial prospects for the Champions League are huge, with the first qualifying round tie against Bratislava worth €280k, and prize money rising substantially in each round (€380k for the second qualifying round, €480k in the third qualifying round and over €15m for making the group stage).
Donohoe isn’t looking beyond what will be a difficult first tie in Slovakia, against a team that qualified for the Europa League group stages in 2019, beating Dundalk in the qualifiers along the way.
However, he admits that the competition is where he wants to see the club competing regularly.
“Obviously, we won the league last year, we want to retain that and go back to the Champions League,” Donohoe said.
“In 2019 we won the cup, in 2020 the league, now in 2021 we are in the Champions League and want to build year-on-year success.”
The multi-faceted role of CEO at Shamrock Rovers, the most successful club in the Republic of Ireland, is a demanding task involving financial management, strategic plans, maintaining relationships with various internal and external stakeholders, but Denis is excited about the potential in all the moving parts that encompass the club.
“The council are starting work this year on building the North Stand (which will hold and additional 2,000 seats), this is exciting for the club and for Tallaght. Beyond that, the club is doing a lot of work at Roadstone (Rovers and Ireland’s first professional youth academy), we will keep pushing that and our work involving schools,” Donohoe told The Echo.
“Shamrock Rovers is the main flagship sporting club in the Tallaght area. We very much have a role to play in the community.”
Donohoe is pleased with the way the pilot scheme has gone, allowing 1,000 fans at league matches in recent weeks, and is looking forward to welcoming back full houses as soon as it is safe to do so.
“The last time we had a big crowd in Tallaght we sold out versus Dundalk. 2020 was strange. We won the league but weren’t able to take advantage of that with Covid.
“It is a bit of cliché but football has been taking place behind closed doors and it is not the same without fans. We have success on the pitch and now it is about getting back to the whole matchday experience,” he concluded.
Rovers first leg tie against Bratislava takes place on July 7 with the return leg in Tallaght Stadium on July 13.
