European windfall brings challenge to deliver upon this golden opportunity

DUNDALK’S first ever Europa League match will go down as a marvellous moment in Irish sporting history.

Over 800 Dundalk supporters were there in person to witness history and for them the memory will burn bright for a long, long time.

This season has been a thrilling time around the town and you still have to pinch yourself when you see Dundalk’s name appear on the tickertape or side panels of Sky Sports or BT Sports alongside such household names as Manchester United and Southampton.

The club, the players and the supporters are living the dream.

Praise is being heaped upon Stephen Kenny, rightly so, and his name is being breathed as a potential successor to Irish manager Martin O’Neill, his players are being mentioned as worthy of call ups to the international squad, on merit, not as a platitude for their European adventures.

Arguments are being advanced that Stephen O’Donnell, Daryl Horgan and David McMillan would be comfortable in an Irish international squad, a place already familiar to goalkeeper Gary Rogers.

The Europa League adventures has only just begun and judging from their debut in the competition gathering additional points in their next five matches is certainly achievable.

On the field it has been a thrill a minute, with European delights and steady domestic results keeping the dream of another league and cup double firmly on course.

Retaining the league title and ensuring a return to Champions League qualifier football next summer must be the number one football priority.

Off the field, the challenges and priorities for Dundalk Football Club are so much more difficult.

The UEFA prizemoney is certainly a huge opportunity to put the club onto a different level, but the scale of the logistical challenge must be overwhelming for a club which is basically run by a handful of people, many of whom hold down full time jobs outside of Oriel Park.

The administration and logistics of competing in the Europa League is a huge commitment and drain on the human resources of the club, with huge hours required in organising every aspect of foreign trips, staging European matches in Tallaght and meeting UEFA’s demanding protocols in staging such matches.

UEFA have a blueprint for how their games must be staged and it requires a small army of people who know the relegations to the letter to carry out.

The club may have a big cheque coming at the end of the year from UEFA but in the meantime they are believed to have been operating off an overdraft guaranteed by the club owners.

Last week there were unconfirmed reports that the club would receive an advance from UEFA which would cer- tainly relieve the financial pressure of chartering planes and booking hotels for more foreign trips.

Between now and the end of the Europa League in December the club face a relentless treadmill of matches and while the focus should always be on the football, time needs to be found to plan for the future.

Supporters worry that this golden era will come and go and that in a few seasons time, they will find themselves in Oriel Park with a couple of hundred other supporters looking at depressing surroundings and wonder where it all went wrong.

A blueprint to resolve the issues surrounding Oriel Park’s lease, pitch and ground development must be put in place.

Formulating such plans are likely already in hand behind closed doors in the boardroom of Oriel Park, but the scope needs to be much wider and tackle all aspects of the club.

Of course it needs to address issues such as the first team and keeping Dundalk at the top of Irish football, and playing regular European football, work on the facilities at Oriel Park and putting the club on a secure financial footing for the long term.

Key to that is tapping into the commercial opportunities that Dundalk’s success over the past three seasons has opened up and in that regard the club could do worse than look at the progress made by both Leinster rugby and Dublin GAA in recent times.

Both have huge populations to tap into and Dundalk have a smaller pool to fish in but soccer is hugely popular game in Ireland and Dublin GAA have been phenomenally successful in developing a commerical brand to fund their ongoing playing successes.

Elsewhere the club could look at developing a closer working relationship with the Dundalk Schoolboys League and developing it as a nursery for local talent to feed into the club at youth and first team level.

The Schoolboys League have had disappointing results in the Under 14 Kennedy Cup and Under 16 Milk Cup in recent years and while the League’s Emerging Talent programme is in place for a number of years now, it could bear more fruit for the League and ultimately Dundalk Football Club.

Children and teenagers now routinely wear Dundalk FC jerseys and tops not alone to matches but as leisure wear.

They favour a Dundalk top over a Manchester United or Liverpool top. That was not always the case.

The challenges and opportunities abound but key strategic decisions now could yield dividends for years to come.