Was it really that long ago?
The League of Ireland may not have any more representatives left in European competitions this season but ten years ago today Shelbourne were flying the flag high for Irish football.
Irish teams have had some brilliant European nights and this draw definitely ranks amongst them.
Pat Fenlon’s men welcomed Spanish giants Deportivo La Coruna to Landsdowne Road for the first-leg of their Champions League third-round qualifier and they came away with one of the great results in League of Ireland history.
To give you an idea of just how impressive this result was, keep in mind that Deportivo had reached the Champions League semi-final the season before.
Pat Fenlon’s side were more than a match for the Spanish giants who included Juan Carlos Valeron, Walter Pandiani and Albert Luque in their team.
In fact, Jason Byrne and Alan Moore missed two great chances to win the match for Shels. Needless to say, the 24,000 sell out crowd at Landsdowne got good value for their money after witnessing one of the best performances from an Irish club in Europe.
The images are brilliant but if you need a bit more nostalgia then take a look at the video below.
Clip via – retroloi
