In the corridors of Windsor Park, Linfield officials toasted their success at the conclusion of a testing and demanding campaign. The South Belfast club had just lifted their fourth successive Irish Premiership title and the 56th in their history – a world record that surpassed Scottish giants Rangers.
Yet nobody was getting carried away with the celebrations as attention swiftly turned to the next challenge. Just 66 days separated Linfield clinching the title – pipping Cliftonville by a solitary point in a close-fought race – and the commencement of their 2022/23 campaign with this week’s Champions League qualification first-leg tie against Welsh champions The New Saints.
In addition to their league title haul, the Blues have 44 Irish Cup successes to their name and over 200 trophies in total. In the 1921-22 and 1961-62 campaigns, the club remarkably completed a ‘clean sweep’ of all seven domestic competitions on offer. While the number of domestic cups has been drastically reduced in recent decades, Linfield won all four trophies in the 2005-06 season – a campaign which sparked the winning of six league and Irish Cup ‘doubles’ in seven seasons.
Speaking to Mirror Football , Blues chairman Roy McGivern explained: “Winning trophies has been a key part of Linfield’s fabric right back to its formation. That expectation is drilled into anyone at the club, whether you’re a player, coach or part of the boardroom.
“This current group of players has carried on that tradition with four league titles in a row. As soon as you win the league title, you immediately start planning ahead for the next season. That brings a lot of pressure naturally but that makes being part of the club even more rewarding.”
Linfield are Northern Ireland’s biggest club, yet their level of their domestic dominance is far from a given. Between 2013 and 2018, five of the six league titles on offer were shared by North Belfast duo Cliftonville and Crusaders.
Since then, two other domestic rivals have had takeovers which altered the landscape of Northern Irish football; Kenny Bruce, co-founder of online estate agents Purplebricks, has invested heavily in his hometown club Larne while Glentoran – based in East Belfast and historically Linfield’s closest challengers – were taken over by a UK-based consortium led by British-Iranian businessman Ali Shams Pour.
This new-found investment propelled Larne and Glentoran into adapting full-time approaches into the historically semi-professional league (a model subsequently followed by Linfield and, partially, Crusaders) while both clubs also spent transfer fees reportedly in excess of £100k – previously unheard of in Northern Irish football – to raid domestic rivals for their star players.
Linfield have the financial resources to compete with this spending, but they have also adapted a more prudent approach to building and maintaining their squad. McGivern adds: “Northern Irish football has always seen clubs who receive investment that allows them to challenge or surpass what Linfield can offer individual players.
“It was not so long ago that Portadown were doing that, and more recently there are other clubs who have received external investment which presents a real challenge to us. But we have a different approach as a members club.
“Winning the title last year in particular was a real achievement with the number of players that we had lost and the investment that other clubs had made it that bit more special. Playing at Linfield is not for everyone; it comes with a lot of pressure and expectations that not everyone is made out for, but there are those who thrive under it and it was that winning mentality that so often gets us over the line.”
Last summer, Linfield completed their adaptation into a fully-fledged full-time club but it was a move that came at a short-term cost. Several long-standing members of the squad were unable to commit to the new approach while striker Shayne Lavery – the league’s outstanding player and a starting Northern Ireland international – joined Blackpool.
In January, the exodus of talent continued. Teenage right-back Trai Hume, another to break through at international level, was signed by Sunderland in a club-record deal believed to exceed £200k. Striker Callum Marshall, 17, who had been involved in the first-team squad, joined West Ham.
The departures were an inevitability for the club but the difficulties in signing their replacements were not. The pool of players available to sign for full-time clubs in Northern Ireland is limited as the professional model is still relatively new and players based in the Republic of Ireland or mainland UK would have to commit to relocating.
The implications of Brexit have also restricted what Northern Irish clubs can do, with red tape scuppering Linfield’s agreed move to sign Malta international forward Kyrian Nwoko. Brexit-related work permit regulations ensured that move fell through, with Nwoko instead joining Dublin-based St. Patrick’s Athletic on a loan deal.
Linfield’s General Manager Pat Fenlon explained: “Brexit caused more confusion for the club and it is an issue when trying to bring in players from further afield. We have spoken to the relevant people within the Irish FA to look at alternative options that make it slightly easier for clubs to recruit but at the moment that process is there and we have to adhere to it.
“There have been two or three players that we believed we were very close to signing and then realised it was impossible to do it based on the criteria required. But our recruitment is second to none and we have been as active as possible in the markets that are open to us; we have a huge list of contacts and a network which allows us to explore as many avenues as possible.”
Fenlon established himself as a cult hero among Linfield fans during his playing days. The Dubliner joined the Blues in 1994 and amidst the backdrop of Northern Ireland’s volatile political situation at the time, the move was a significant one. Within months of his arrival, Fenlon netted goals in the decisive matches as Linfield won another league and cup double.
The former midfielder went into management, winning five League of Ireland titles and reaching two Scottish Cup finals with Hibs. He re-joined Linfield in 2018 in the newly-created General Manager position.
Chairman McGivern described the appointment as a ‘big step’ in the club’s drive to modernise with their fresh approach, saying: “Our goal has always been to professionalise the club on and off the pitch.
“The full-time model was a key part of that but that did not just apply to the first-team squad, but for an elite apprenticeship scheme – for our top academy talents to receive that training. The plan for them is either to turn professional with Linfield or to earn a move across the water. We now have a model, helped largely by Pat, in which we are being properly compensated for our players who make that big step, whereas in the past clubs from our league were taken advantage of because of our status.”
McGivern continued: “It has been a challenge for us to bring in players from European leagues because of the immigration rules.
“Our management and recruitment team have not panicked, as a club we acknowledge that it is impossible to replace a player of Shayne Lavery’s level within our league. The key is to identify players who have that potential to improve and the desire to grow and develop, so it's important to get that right profile of player in.”
Fenlon and McGivern may be two key drivers of change behind the scenes, but club boss David Healy has also played a key role. Northern Ireland’s record international scorer has won the league title in five of his six full seasons at the helm and firmly re-established the club back on top domestically.
Healy – in his first managerial role - has been a vocal supporter of the full-time approach but the former striker faces greater scrutiny than any other figure in the domestic game due to the expectation to constantly deliver results and titles.
“David had a track record of working well under pressure and his record as a manager is incredible when you look at this as his first job,” claims McGivern. “I think a lot of the great work that he has done goes unnoticed because of those expectations of always winning – that is the goal that it is set so when you do win those leagues it maybe is not fully appreciated.”
Fenlon praised Healy for his willingness to embrace not only the winning culture at the club, but their cohesive approach of incorporating youngsters into the first-team squad and reaping the rewards of the apprenticeship scheme and professionalisation of youth stars.
“There is no point in us having an academy for boys and girls if there is not a clear pathway to first-team football for them,” said Fenlon. “Our manager deserves a lot of credit for bringing so many young players into the team to continue their development; it gives those players the opportunity to showcase themselves and the club to reap the rewards of the development process.”
A case in point of Healy’s faith in youth was demonstrated by the remarkable role of January arrival Ethan Devine in the club’s latest title. The 20-year-old striker had been playing for second-tier Knockbreda but proved definitive in the title race. As a substitute, he headed a late equaliser against Cliftonville – resulting in a three-point swing that ultimately proved decisive in the title race – while also netting two winners against Crusaders and one against Warrenpoint, two of which came in the last minute.
Fenlon added: “It would be very easy for David to argue that his only objective is to win matches and trophies, but he does this with an eye on giving the young players their opportunities.”
The first challenge for Linfield was to remain on top domestically but the next is very clear: to taste success in Europe. The club’s finest achievement on the continent was reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1967, being edged out by one goal against Bulgarian outfit CSKA Sofia. However, despite improving results across the board in recent years, no Northern Irish side has ever reached the group stages of the subsequently-reformatted European competitions. With the introduction of the Europa Conference League, that may soon change.
Speaking ahead of the tie against The New Saints, McGivern added: “It is a huge opportunity for both clubs - European progression is so central to our aims as a club and to be the first Irish League club in the group stages of a European competition. In 2019 we were within one goal of the Europa League group stage but the changes that UEFA have brought in mean that more group stage spaces are now available for our leagues.
“Luck of the draw will always be a big factor in that but preparation for these ties is key, especially when you are in the Champions League qualification rounds. The prestige and financial rewards that qualification for a group would bring would be game-changing for the club, as is the case for any club at this level.”
Linfield have worked hard to prepare for the tie; a warm-weather training camp in Marbella was utilised ahead of the clash to improve fitness levels – including an eye-catching 1-0 friendly victory over World Cup hosts Qatar.
The club have also been proactive in the transfer market; Northern Ireland Under-21 striker Chris McKee made his loan move from Rangers permanent, while frontman Robbie McDaid joined following the expiration of his contract at Glentoran and Finnish forward Eetu Vertainen has re-joined on loan from St Johnstone. Star winger Joel Cooper has returned to Windsor Park following a spell at Oxford United and defender Daniel Finlayson has been loaned from St Mirren.
Fenlon reiterated the importance of their European ventures, adding: “The more successful we are as a league and a club will mean there would be more funding opportunities through sponsorship, ticket sales and TV revenue. The financial incentives from progress alone are significant, but there is a two-fold effect which makes it all the more important.
“There is a potential knock-on impact from European progress that we can show the people outside our league that we are serious clubs who are making huge strides, which will be a win-win for everyone.
“That would allow us to build not just the strength of our first-team squad but right throughout the club and those resources are hard to come by for Northern Irish clubs. Europe will bring us to the attention of the public and in the business world to make us more attractive and allow us to grow.”
While Fenlon was speaking from a Linfield perspective, he stressed the importance of all clubs in Northern Ireland having a reliance on a strong league and solidarity in their approach.
“If we are serious about progress and improvement, we have got to make it a full-time league,” added the former Hibs boss, acknowledging how only three of the 12 Irish Premiership clubs currently have such a model.
“I firmly believe there has to be an industry in Northern Ireland for the game. All the clubs must strive to work together on that front; there is a degree of scepticism on full-time football but we have to be together to show there is employment and growth around football in the country.
“At Linfield we are pulling together in the same direction with everyone in the key positions at the club having the ethos to drive the club forward and improve. We are driven and focused on not resting our laurels. The investment that is being put into other clubs in our league is driving us on and it is important for the league to have that level raised.”
Linfield are now aiming to break the European barrier of group-stage participation that has eluded Northern Irish clubs to date as expectations once again reset with a fresh campaign. That next challenge is always just around the corner.
