Jack Byrne reckons the crowds in the League of Ireland could be multiples of what’s there if the facilities could accommodate it.
Friday night’s Dublin Derby between Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians will be the first proper 8,000 sell-out at Tallaght since Byrne joined the club in 2019.
While Rovers’ 3-2 win over Dundalk, their last home game before lockdown in which Byrne scored the winner, had a full house with a limited attendance, the Bohs game is another level up.
Rovers’ website went down on Monday morning, such was the demand for tickets, and the game could have easily sold out twice over.
Say it softly, say it quietly, maybe don’t say it at all lest you jinx it, but the League of Ireland is hot shit at the moment.
"I think that you could have seen double the crowd and I don't think that would be limited to just Tallaght," said Byrne at the launch of the Elite Fives tournament in Dublin.
"If you could get more fans into Dalymount then I feel you'd easily fill there as well. It shows where the league is at right now - people want to go.
"Going down to Dalymount, in the same way it's hostile when they come to Tallaght, it's hostile when we go to Dalymount.
"But it could be twice as much [fans] - it could be three times as much. However, at the same time, you must have quality on show to ensure the people come back.
"It's okay to get them out once or twice but you want to bring them back every week. To to this, you must do things properly which is happening at the moment.
"It's certainly going the right way but needs to stay like this if you want to bring them back every week.”
Byrne was speaking, alongside Roddy Collins, at the launch of the Elite Fives, a new competition for small-sided games.
The winners of the competition, which will take place at the AUL in June, will take home €50,000 and the beaten finalists ten grand.
Byrne, who grew up playing street football in Ballybough in the north inner city, knows full well the value of competitions like this.
He says: “I played in tournaments in the Larkin Skill Centre and Hardwicke Street flats were there might have been a small prize for the winners.
"If I was growing up now then I would want to be involved in this competition. There's a lot of pride at stake for lads playing in these tournaments and this is the opportunity for lads to prove how good they are.
"There's an amazing prize at the end of it. There's real bragging rights for the winners, especially for junior clubs.
"Top teams like Bluebell and like them - who have quite a few players who were in the League of Ireland- will look to put sides in.
"But it's also open to fellows in town who will come together to form a team because they have a great reputation for playing five a sides.
"If a team Iike this beats a top junior club then there's a lot of bragging rights. They can certainly showcase what they can do.
"I already know a few lads around town who want to enter a team."
