GOOD OMENS
Having won two Premier League titles, two Fizzy Cups and represented the Republic of Ireland more than 100 times, you could be forgiven for presuming that leading Shelbourne to the Irish title would rank somewhere between winning the Community Shield and getting relegated with Fulham among Damien Duff’s list of footballing achievements. Famously described as “the problem child” of the FAI by former chief suit John Delaney, who was far more problematic and childish than the tournament he was belittling, the League of Ireland Premier Division is endearingly tinpot through no great fault of its own. It has long been the subject of extreme financial neglect by both the organisation that runs it and a government who make little or no effort to help it thrive, although in recent years and due in no small part to the arrival of “Duffer”, its popularity continues to grow in the face of fierce competition for Irish eyeballs from assorted other, better funded sports.
