UEFA are already preparing for what would be the biggest European final crowd in history should the staggering happen and Rangers get to the Europa League final to face Liverpool, with both British clubs very much in contention.
The notion of Rangers making the final is by no means a foolish suggestion, given we did it in 2022, and UEFA are well aware it could happen again.
But the big issue is now coming into focus with Premier League giants Liverpool getting there too, and, obviously, the final being in Dublin.
This would mean potentially hundreds and hundreds of thousands of fans descending on Ireland – no one has exact figures but it is estimated at least 200,000 Rangers supporters went to Manchester in 2008, but that of course was to face Russian giants Zenit who didn’t take a massive support to England.
But Liverpool would certainly take a big one to Dublin, meaning we’re talking potentially 300,000-400,000 fans engulfing Ireland’s east coast.
It’s a huge, huge nightmare for both UEFA and Dublin, but they’re ready for it.
Theodore Theodoridis, the general secretary, said:
“One of the biggest challenges for us this year could be the Europa League final. Under certain conditions, because of the potential teams that could qualify, this might end up being the most challenging for us. We know they will bring a number of supporters without tickets and then there is the issue of potential public viewing venues. There are a couple of pairings – I won’t speculate on the names but you are clever enough to work it out – that would be extremely challenging to find ways to accommodate everybody that will be present for that game We have already reserved Croke Park as a potential public viewing venue, but that could not be enough. We are working on this already, together with the local authorities and also Football Supporters Europe.”
In short, Rangers and Liverpool. West Ham of course are there too, as are Brighton, but the two giants of British football, from Ibrox and Anfield respectively, would be not only taking hundreds of thousands to Dublin, but already have thousands of fans in that city as it is.
Meaning generally up to half a million supporters swarming Ireland’s capital.
Many will dismiss this as ‘need to get there first’ and that’s fine, but if and when we do, Dublin has an issue.
Of course, there’s Bayer Leverkusen and Milan in there too, it is a VERY strong field in the Europa League this season, but the possibility of Rangers Liverpool is there.
Epic.