SHELS ARE CLOSE TO RETURN TO BIG TIME

THREE games to go, five points clear — the stars are aligned for Shelbourne’s overdue return, under head coach Ian Morris, to the topflight of Irish club football. In the week which marks the 12th anniversary of the passing of their great protector, Ollie Byrne, the Reds will clinch promotion tonight should they beat Bray at Tolka Park and Drogheda drop points at Athlone. Few neutrals would begrudge the Reds a break. Since 2007, Shels have spent 11 seasons out of 13 in the First Division doldrums. At times, they almost went under but diehards Redsmen, led by chairman Joe Casey, refused to pull the plug on the life-support system of their beloved club. Somehow, they kept it going. And when Andrew Doyle, the new CEO, arrived like a knight in shining armour with a buyout deal earlier this year, it was reward for Casey and Co for their unstinting work on the Tolka coalface. Shels are my local club, even if I don’t head down Gracepark Avenue as often as I should. In the 1990s and through the first decade of the new millennium, a throbbing Tolka was the heartbeat of Irish football. And Byrne was its lungs, never short of an opinion on his club and Irish football. It was a privilege to be there for many great moments, the six leagues titles from 1992 to 2006, the four FAI Cups between 1993 and 2000, the extraordinary Euro adventures. Next season, barring a late slip-up, we’ll be there again at the back of the rickety old stand as Shels join Rovers, Bohs and Pats as part of Dublin’s Big Four again.