The Saints Are Coming

Saint Patrick’s Athletic are now just two games away from the group stages of the Europa League. Chief executive Richard Sadlier talks the Super Saints’ chances against the mighty Steaua.

Craig Fitzsimons, 24 Aug 2009

In what’s been a horribly bleak season for Irish domestic football – with Cork City fighting for their continued existence, and dark rumours that apocalyptic financial meltdown may drag several clubs under – the European exploits of St. Patrick’s Athletic have been a beacon of light.

Having disposed of Maltese side Valletta in order to reach the third qualifying round, and then been fated to meet crack Russian outfit Kyryla Sovietov, Pat’s subsequently pulled off one of the most astonishing feats in their history.

After winning the first leg 1-0, the party seemed to be well and truly over when the Russians stormed into a 3-0 lead. At which point, Pat’s improbably scored twice to secure an away-goals triumph, leaving a gobsmacked Russian television pundit to fume about ‘the darkest, saddest and worst day in history’. The Inchicore team were greeted by a legion of grateful fans upon their return to Dublin Airport, and now face the heady prospect of a two-leg tie against former European champions Steaua Bucharest. If they can manage to slay that particular dragon, Pat’s will have qualified for the group stages of the Europa League (basically a re-branded UEFA Cup).

Pat’s chief executive Richard Sadlier is a familiar figure to Irish fans from his time with Millwall: his career was cruelly cut short by the same hip injury that thwarted his chances of making Ireland’s 2002 World Cup squad, and ultimately led to early retirement at the age of 25. Now happily esconsed in his position as Pat’s CEO, even Sadlier confesses that the miracle in Russia took him completely by surprise.

“Football being football, we knew it was possible,” he reflects. “We also knew that in realistic terms, it was very unlikely. For a million reasons – the conditions, the intimidation factor of playing 23,000 Russians in an arena like that, so far from home and with so little support. Plus, we’d been warned that it might be an awkward trip – in terms of whether they’d disrupt our preparations, alarms ringing all night in the hotel, prostitutes contacting the players at the dead of night, food being interfered with. As it turned out, none of that happened.

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