The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
THE country’s most successful soccer club, Shamrock Rovers is a Dublin institution.
However, when the club had an away tie in the first qualification round of the Champions League this week, the Hoops ended up flying from Shannon rather than from the capital, even though it is 188km further from their ground than Dublin Airport.
The club spent over €100,000 on chartering a flight to Malta for their second leg tie against Hibernians, but so congested was Dublin Airport that they couldn’t fly from there and had to go to Shannon instead.
While it was unfortunate from the club’s point of view, it was yet more positive marketing for Shannon at a time when Dublin Airport is struggling to cope with the numbers using the airport, which is helping make the case that Irish aviation is far too centralised.
Shannon Airport tweeted pictures of the Rovers squad at the airport and after wishing them well added, “It’s easier, faster and comfier when you start your journey from Shannon.”
Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley might not have been pleased with the long drive down, but he loved the ease of Shannon.
Delighted to welcome The Hoops @ShamrockRovers to Shannon Airport ahead of their @ChampionsLeague second leg match in Malta!
We caught up Rovers Manager, Stephen Bradley…
Best of luck from all of us at Shannon Airport! ✈️#RoversInEurope #shannonairport #makingiteasy pic.twitter.com/Z8gBiH3T9B
— Shannon Airport (@ShannonAirport) July 10, 2022
“The experience at Shannon Airport has been fantastic. The staff couldn’t be more helpful, no queues, it’s been straightforward, straight in,.
“Like I said they couldn’t do enough for us so it’s been a fantastic experience and hopefully it’s not the last time we come through Shannon Airport.”
Using Shannon clearly did them no harm, as a 0-0 draw in Tuesday night’s game saw them progress to the second round due to their earlier 3-0 victory in the first leg.
Rovers players boarding their plane at Shannon this week
Rovers could be back at Shannon quite soon, as they now have to face Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad next week.
The fact that a club so identified with Dublin ended up having to use Shannon certainly did not go unnoticed in the Mid-West and indeed it was remarked upon at Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council.
Councillor John Crowe warmly commended Shamrock Rovers and wished them well prior to the clash with Hibernians.
“I have to congratulate Shamrock Rovers on their decision to use Shannon Airport to fly out for their next European match,” he said.
“This is a great flag to be flying. They are coming down by bus and it will be a lot easier for them to fly out of Shannon Airport. I hope they win every match and that it will be the start of many teams using the facility that we have in Shannon.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
