Dundalk F.C. in European football
Dundalk Football Club is a professional association football club in Dundalk, Ireland. Dundalk compete in the League of Ireland Premier Division—the top tier of football in Ireland. They are ranked 126th in the UEFA club coefficients as of January 2021, making them the highest-ranked Irish side in Europe. They have played against a number of famous names in European football, such as Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Celtic, FC Porto, PSV Eindhoven, Ajax, Red Star Belgrade, and Zenit St Petersburg.
Dundalk Vs. Riga, 2019–20 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round | |
Club | Dundalk F.C. |
---|---|
Most appearances | Seán Gannon (38) |
Top scorer | David McMillan (10) |
First entry | 1963–64 European Cup |
Latest entry | 2020–21 UEFA Europa League |
They made their European debut in the 1963–64 European Cup as League Champions, and became the first Irish side to win an away match in Europe the same season. They have qualified for Europe a total of 25 times, with their best performance in the European Cup / UEFA Champions League coming in 1979–80 (when they reached the last 16). They have qualified twice for the UEFA Europa League group stage, and in 2016–17 they became the first team from Ireland to both win points and win a match at that level of European competition.
Dundalk play their home matches in Oriel Park, which is a Category 2 Stadium, able to accommodate 3,100 seated spectators for European games. Matches requiring grounds to have a Category 3 status have been played in Tallaght Stadium, owned by South Dublin County Council, while matches requiring Category 4 status have been played in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Background
The first continental competition organised by UEFA was the European Cup in 1955. Conceived by Gabriel Hanot, the editor of L'Équipe, as a competition for winners of the European national football leagues, it is considered the most prestigious European football competition.[1][2] Two further competitions were created: the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Established in 1955, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was later re-branded as the UEFA Cup when it came under the auspices of UEFA in 1971.[3] Since the 2009–10 season, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League.[4] The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was inaugurated in 1960 for the winners of domestic cup competitions.[3] The final tournament was held in 1998–99, after which it was absorbed into the UEFA Cup.[5]
History
The call up (1963–1969)
Dundalk's first involvement in European football was the 1963–64 European Cup, as the 1962–63 League Champions, drawing Swiss champions FC Zurich in the preliminary round. Their first match was the home-leg, played in Dalymount Park in Dublin on 11 September 1963,[6] as Oriel Park did not have floodlights. Following a chastening 3–0 defeat,[7] they travelled to Switzerland for the return leg more in hope than expectation. A first away win for any Irish club in a European tie followed, inspired by forward Jimmy Hasty. In the match they took a two-goal lead, with Hasty then hitting the crossbar as they looked to level the tie. A late goal for the home side settled the tie, but gave Dundalk a 2–1 victory on the night.[8] After having to play the Zurich tie in Dalymount, the installation of floodlighting in Oriel Park ahead of the visit of Vasas SC of Hungary four years later, and the narrow 1–0 defeat that followed, left the town "justifiably proud" at their club's achievement.[9]
The following season saw a number of European firsts for Dundalk - they entered the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup for the first time, and won both their first European match in Oriel Park and their first European tie when defeating DOS Utrecht.[10] They then met Glasgow Rangers in the following round and were well beaten,[11] with crowd trouble caused by the visiting Rangers fans in Oriel Park and around the town marring the tie.[12] The match had taken place in the midst of the violence surrounding the Civil Rights marches taking place in Northern Ireland at the time. A 14–0 aggregate thrashing at the hands of Liverpool in the Fairs Cup a year later, at a time when the club was struggling financially due to sizeable capital debts, remains their biggest defeat in European competition.[13]
Safe European home (1976–1982)
When Dundalk won the League in 1975–76 under Jim McLaughlin, it brought European football back to the town for the first time since 1969. In the following season's European Cup they met PSV Eindhoven, and were deemed unlucky to only draw the first leg in Oriel Park.[14] That match started an unbeaten run in Europe in Oriel Park of eight matches over the following five seasons.[15] In the following season's Cup Winners' Cup they defeated Hajduk Split at home,[16] but an argument over players' expenses before the journey to Yugoslavia for the return leg, which saw two players left at home, scuppered an opportunity to progress.[17] The unbeaten run at home included draws with Porto,[18] and Tottenham Hotspur.[19] They also secured what remains their record victory in Europe – a 4–0 victory over Fram in the 1981–82 European Cup Winners' Cup.[20] The run came to an end in 1982, when they lost 4–1 at home to a Liverpool side inspired by Irish international Ronnie Whelan, who scored twice in Oriel,[21] and again in Liverpool's 1–0 victory in the second leg. Unbeknown to the club and its supporters at the time, the Liverpool tie was to be McLaughlin's last European tie at the club.[22]
The European highlight of McLaughlin's time at the club was the 1979–80 European Cup. The Double winning side overcame Linfield in a tie marred by rioting in Oriel Park, which occurred at the height of The Troubles.[23] Linfield were punished by UEFA for the actions of their supporters by being banned from playing their home-leg in Belfast, and being forced to pay for damage to Oriel Park and Dundalk's expenses for the return leg.[24] That return leg was played behind closed doors in Haarlem in the Netherlands, with Dundalk winning 2–0 (3–1 on aggregate).[25] They then defeated Hibernians of Malta in the next round to reach the last-16 and a tie with Glasgow Celtic.[26]
The prize for the winners would be a quarter-final tie with Real Madrid. Following a highly creditable 3–2 defeat in the away leg in Parkhead, a record attendance in Oriel Park[27] witnessed a scoreless draw, with club stalwart Tommy McConville coming closest to scoring the goal that would have put them through on away goals.[28] The 1979–80 European Cup run was the subject of a documentary made in 2015 – Once In A Lifetime - produced by Square 1 Productions and broadcast on Setanta Sports on 6 August 2015.[29]
Train in vain (1987–2002)
Dundalk played six European ties between 1987 and 2002 (including glamour ties against Ajax Amsterdam, the Cup Winners' Cup holders, in 1987–88,[30] and Red Star Belgrade in 1988–89[31]), losing five of these ties without scoring a goal. But in the 1991–92 European Cup they took the lead away to Honved in Budapest, with the game finishing 1–1.[32] This was the club's best European result in 10 years, and the first time they had not lost an away leg since 1968 (the 'away' leg against Linfield in 1979 having been played at a neutral venue). An away goal to the good, a disappointing 2–0 defeat in Oriel Park[33] cost the club a second round tie with Sampdoria, at a time when Serie A was the dominant and most popular league in Europe,[34] and when they were in need of a glamour tie to rekindle interest in the domestic game. The Honved match would be the last played in Oriel Park until 2010 – the Malmö tie in 1995 being played in United Park in Drogheda, due to the Oriel pitch being relaid, and the Varteks tie in 2002 being played in Tolka Park, due to Oriel not meeting UEFA's upgraded standards for football stadiums.[35]
Death or glory (2010–2015)
Oriel Park hadn't seen European football since 1991 and, as things were, the ground didn't meet UEFA's requirements for hosting games were the club to reach Europe again. So, after qualifying for the Europa League qualifying rounds in 2010, a concerted effort was made to ensure the matches would be played in Oriel – the 'BE-TOP' (Bring Europe to Oriel Park) campaign.[36] The first European match in Oriel for nearly 19-years saw Dundalk defeat Grevenmacher and make it through to the second qualifying round.[37] Levski Sofia were next, and the gulf in standard was reflected in the 8–0 aggregate defeat.[38] European football was back in the town, but the subsequent ownership crisis in 2012 left supporters wondering if big European nights would ever return.[39]
Following a revival in the club's fortunes under Stephen Kenny, however, they again made it to the second qualifying round in the 2014–15 Europa League. Kenny's side gave an indication of their potential on the European stage, by defeating Hajduk Split in Split on a 2–1 scoreline – just failing to score the goal that would have won the tie on away goals.[40] The following season an opportunity was missed against BATE Borisov in the Champions League, when a 0–0 home draw wasn't enough to take advantage of an away goal scored in the first-leg of the second qualifying round.[41]
Last gang in town (2016)
The 2016–17 Champions League saw the club qualify for the Champions League play-off round, after they first defeated FH of Iceland,[42] then came from a goal down in the tie to defeat BATE 3–0 in Tallaght Stadium,[43] winning through 3–1 on aggregate. Dundalk drew Legia Warsaw, with the first leg played in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in front of a crowd of 30,417.[44] They suffered a 2–0 defeat in the home leg, but shocked Legia in the return leg by taking a 1–0 lead through Robbie Benson's volley. With Dundalk pushing for the equaliser that would have taken the tie to extra-time, Legia scored on the break, and won the tie 3–1 on aggregate.[45]
Defeat in the play-off round meant that the club qualified for the group stage of the Europa League, only the second Irish team to have done so. A draw with AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands,[46] followed by a victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tallaght Stadium,[47] were the first points earned by an Irish club at this stage of a European competition – both the equaliser in Alkmaar and the winning goal in Tallaght being scored by Ciarán Kilduff. In the third match they took the lead in Tallaght against Zenit St Petersburg, and were 20 minutes from topping the table, before eventually losing 2–1.[48] In a campaign that would run from 13 July to 8 December, five weeks beyond the end of the domestic season, Dundalk failed to pick up any more points in the remaining matches. But they had attracted considerable attention.[49][50]
Remote control (2017–2020)
Following the club's long campaign in 2016, losing to Rosenborg after extra-time in the Champions League second qualifying round tie the following season was a disappointment, even with the financial and organisational disparity between the sides.[51] In January 2018 the club was taken over by United States-based investors, who had identified European progress as an opportunity.[52] But progress that summer was limited when, after defeating Levadia Tallinn and holding AEK Larnaca scoreless in Oriel Park, three quickfire first half goals in the away leg in Cyprus in the 2018-19 Europa League second qualifying round ended their interest in that year's competition.[53]
On foot of winning the League in 2018, they entered the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. After being seeded in the draw, they faced Riga, drawing the home leg in Oriel Park 0–0. The away leg in Riga was the club's 70th match in European football, which also finished 0–0. After extra-time failed to separate the sides, they won 5–4 in a sudden-death penalty shootout, becoming the first Irish side to win a tie in that manner.[54] They were knocked out in the second qualifying round by Qarabağ when a 1–1 home draw was followed by a 3–0 defeat away in Baku,[55] which saw them receive a bye into the Europa League third qualifying round. Their interest in Europe for the season ended there, with a 4–1 aggregate defeat to Slovan Bratislava, which was characterised by the lack of clinical finishing that had dogged the side throughout the campaign.[56]
They entered the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League as the seeded team in the first qualifying round and were drawn away to Celje. They were defeated 3–0 in the single-leg tie, which was played at Szusza Ferenc Stadion, Budapest (Hungary) because of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic between Slovenia and Ireland.[57] In the aftermath of that defeat, manager Vinny Perth was sacked by the club and replaced by Filippo Giovagnoli as interim head coach.[58] They then entered the Europa League and in the second qualifying round faced Andorran champions Inter Club d'Escaldes, winning 1–0.[59] They then faced Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol in the third qualifying round. Sheriff took an early lead but Dundalk rallied and equalised in first half stoppage time. Despite dominating subsequently, the game eventually went to penalties and Dundalk came out on top, 5–3.[60] The victory gave Dundalk a chance to reach the UEFA Europa League group stage for the second time in their history. In the play-off round, they faced KÍ of Klaksvík in the Faroe Islands at the Aviva Stadium, and won 3–1.[61]
They were seeded fourth for the group stage and were drawn in Group B alongside Arsenal, Rapid Wien, and Molde. In the first match at home to Molde, Dundalk took a first half lead through Sean Murray, before going down 2–1.[62] Matchday 2 saw a comfortable win for Arsenal in the Emirates Stadium, 3–0, while Matchday 3 in Vienna finished 4–3 to Rapid after Dundalk had again taken the lead.[63] After a three-week break, the visit of Rapid to Dublin saw the Austrians win more comfortably, 3–1.[64] They failed to pick up any points from the second set of matches, and finished bottom of the group on 0 points.[65] They also received a €50,000 fine from Uefa for 'shadow coaching', as interim head coach Filippo Giovagnoli did not hold a Uefa Pro Licence.[66]
Record
The record for the most appearances in European competition is held by Seán Gannon. David McMillan has scored the most goals for the club in Europe. The biggest victory in a European match was a 4–0 home win against Fram Reykjavík in 1981.[20]
Overall European record
As of 10 December 2020.[67]
Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
European Cup / UEFA Champions League | 33 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 24 | 60 |
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League | 37 | 9 | 5 | 23 | 34 | 73 |
European Cup Winners' Cup / UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 25 |
TOTAL | 84 | 16 | 19 | 49 | 69 | 172 |
All match results
Footnotes
- The tie went to extra time.
- Dundalk won on the away goals rule.
- The tie went to extra time.
- The tie went to extra time.
- Dundalk won on penalties.
- single leg tie due to COVID-19 pandemic—Neutral venue.
- single leg tie due to COVID-19 pandemic—away tie.
- single leg tie due to COVID-19 pandemic—away tie.
- Dundalk won on penalties.
- single leg tie due to COVID-19 pandemic—home tie.
References
- Bibliography
- Sexton, Daniel (2020). Dundalk Football Club: In Black And White. Amazon. ISBN 979-8639712814.
- Murphy, Jim (2003). The History of Dundalk F.C.: The First 100 Years. Dundalgan Press. ASIN B0042SO3R2.
- Murphy, Jim (2013). C'mon The Town! A Dundalk F.C. Miscellany. Self published.
- Citations
- Moore 2000, p. 217.
- "Football's premier club competition". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Retrieved 25 December 2011.
- Moore 2000, p. 220.
- "Uefa Cup given new name in revamp". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- uefadirect, Issue 100: August 2010, Page 15 "European Cup Winners' Cup makes its debut"
- Mathers, Vincent (11 September 1963). "Zurich's Form A Big Mystery To Home Champions". Irish Press. Retrieved 23 June 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- Murphy, W.P. (12 September 1963). "Methodical Zurich Side Slammed Dundalk". Irish Independent. Retrieved 25 July 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- "Dundalk Had Great Win But Fail on Aggregate". The Irish Press. 26 September 1963. Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- O'Shea, Tom (21 September 1967). "Standing Ovation For Oriel XI". The Irish Press. Retrieved 8 May 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
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- O'Shea, Tom (14 November 1968). "Stein Is Rangers Spur In Oriel Park 'Battle'". The Irish Press. Retrieved 14 June 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- O'Shea, Tom (14 November 1968). "Bottles and stones fly at match". The Irish Press. Retrieved 14 June 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- Diffley, Sean (1 October 1969). "It Was So Easy For Liverpool". The Irish Press. Retrieved 23 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
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- Murphy, Paul (8 November 1979). "Cocky home side shock the pride of Scotland". Evening Herald. Retrieved 2 May 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- Dunne, Noel (8 November 1979). "Praise–but no 'miracles' for Dundalk". Irish Independent. Retrieved 23 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- McLaughlin, Gavin (6 August 2015). "Dundalk FC 'Once In A Lifetime' Premiere". Dundalk Sport – via medium.com. Cite journal requires
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(help) - Kelly, Liam (1 October 1987). "Ajax clean up at Oriel Park!". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 May 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
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- "Dundalk rock mighty Magyars". Irish Independent. 19 September 1991. Retrieved 23 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- "A five minute fiasco!". Irish Independent. 3 October 1991. Retrieved 23 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
- "Serie A in the 1990s or Premier League in the 2000s? What was the best league era of all time?". The Independent. 24 March 2017.
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(help) - "Levski polish off Dundalk". Irish Independent. 23 July 2010 – via www.independent.ie.
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(help) - UEFA.com. "UEFA Europa League - Hajduk Split-Dundalk". UEFA.com.
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- McLaughlin, Gavin (23 August 2016). "Brave Dundalk exit Champions League in Poland". RTÉ – via www.rte.ie.
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- McLaughlin, Gavin (29 September 2016). "Dundalk claim historic Euro win against Maccabi". RTÉ – via www.rte.ie.
- McLaughlin, Gavin (21 October 2016). "Dundalk defeated as Zenit battle back in Tallaght". RTÉ – via www.rte.ie.
- Doyle, Paul (10 October 2016). "Dundalk's Stephen Kenny winning friends and trophies with Irish trailblazers". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- "Remembering the greatest European run in the history of Irish football". The 42. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- McLaughlin, Gavin (20 July 2017). "Heartbreak in Trondheim". Dundalk Sport – via www.dundalksport.ie. Cite journal requires
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(help) - McLaughlin, Gavin (18 January 2018). "DFC – PEAK6 backed American takeover of Dundalk FC finally confirmed". Dundalk Sport. Cite journal requires
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(help) - McLaughlin, Gavin (2 August 2018). "Dundalk's European Hopes Crumble in Cyprus". Dundalk Sport – via www.dundalksport.ie. Cite journal requires
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(help) - "Dundalk advance on penalties after nerve-wracking Champions League qualifier". The 42. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- McDonnell, Daniel (31 July 2019). "Dundalk wilt in Baku heat as late Qarabağ goals put emphatic gloss on scoreline". Irish Independent. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- Fitzmaurice, Aidan (14 August 2019). "Dundalk's European Adventure Comes to an End". Irish Independent. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- "SPREMEMBA: Z Dundalkom na Madžarskem" [CHANGE: With Dundalk in Hungary]. nk-celje.si (in Slovenian). 9 August 2020.
- "'A lot of people are sceptical but I am not afraid' - Dundalk confirm arrival of little-known Italian Giovagnoli". The 42. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- "MCMILLAN STRIKE SENDS US THROUGH!". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "LILYWHITES SHOOT DOWN SHERIFF!". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- McDonnell, Daniel. "Dundalk's €3million bonanza as they win place in Europa League group stages". independent.ie. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- "LILYWHITES FALL TO MOLDE DEFEAT". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- "RAPID WIEN 4-3 DUNDALK FC". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
- "Dundalk FC 1-3 Rapid Wien". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- "DUNDALK 2-4 ARSENAL". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- "Dundalk fined €50,000 by UEFA for 'shadow coaching'". rte.ie. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- "Dundalk FC". uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 24 September 2019.