THEY boast both the biggest stadium and largest trophy haul on either side of the border.
But Linfield’s claim to be the biggest club on the island needs more than just bricks and mortar and past glories to sustain it.
And David Healy’s side will have their work cut out against Shelbourne to prove that their status as the seeded team in the tie is an accurate reflection of their standing.
Certainly, Healy was none too pleased with the draw even if it minimised the travel involved for their Champions League qualifier.
The former Northern Ireland striker said: “Out of the possibles that we could have got, personally I think it’s the toughest.
“I would imagine Shelbourne, being the unseeded team, may be quite happy with the draw. The plan is to be in the tie when we get to Windsor Park the week after. It’s a tough test.”
That is despite the fact that Shels are the competition’s third-lowest ranked team, ahead of only clubs from San Marino and Albania, on account of last year being their first appearance in Europe in 18 years.
But, even though their talismanic title-winning gaffer Damien Duff stepped down little more than a fortnight ago, and the fact that they are lying sixth in the table, they still look better equipped for a lucrative All-Ireland clash than their opponents.
Ahead of tomorrow’s first leg at Tolka Park, the Reds have 25 league games under their belt.
Healy was speaking after his side had been beaten on penalties by Dungannon Swifts in the Charity Shield on Friday.
It was only their second game since returning to pre-season training 3½ weeks ago, the other being a 4-0 win over Haverfordwest County from the Welsh top tier.
As preparation goes for a tie with so much prize money at stake, it is hardly ideal. Each club is guaranteed €960,000 just for participating in the tie.
Winning it is worth an additional €750,000, while overcoming Qarabag in the next round would secure at least another €2.12m as it would copper-fasten group-stage football in one of Uefa’s three competitions.
Given what is on the line, it was curious to hear Healy suggest that their analysis of Shels was only going to begin after the curtain-raiser against Dungannon was out of the way.
It is hard to believe that, for all the turmoil at Tolka Park because of Duff’s departure and his replacement by his assistant Joey O’Brien, Shels would have started looking at Linfield only over the weekend.
And, as much as Duff used to rail against what he perceived as the lack of an elite mindset amongst some in the League of Ireland, it is hard to escape the conclusion that it is light years ahead of the NIFL.
This season is the first in which all ten top-flight clubs here are full-time, compared to just four — Linfield, Larne, Glentoran and Coleraine — in the NIFL, although Cliftonville are heading in that direction.
Stephen Baxter achieved considerable success with Crusaders before stepping down last year but, more than once, he missed European games because he was on holiday. So too did players at his and other clubs.
That would simply be unthinkable in the League of Ireland.
Remember the backlash against Bohemians boss Alan Reynolds after he teamed up with the Ireland Under-21 squad during an international break last year?
For any manager here to skip their side’s most lucrative two matches of the year — the dates for which were known well in advance — to lie on a beach simply would not be tolerated.
EUROPEAN RECORDS
It presumably helps to explain why NIFL clubs have not matched the exploits of their League of Ireland counterparts when it comes to European results.
Shamrock Rovers have qualified for the group stages on three occasions, Dundalk twice with Larne’s appearance in the Conference League — in which they were well beaten by the Hoops — last season a first for a club from north of the border.
Linfield should have beaten them to it in 2022 but if you look for a dictionary definition of shooting oneself in the foot you might find yourself reading the details of their tie against RFS.
They were 2-0 up in Latvia with two minutes to go but drew 2-2. They took the lead in extra-time in the second leg but conceded an own goal in stoppage time and then lost a penalty shootout.
That might have gone some way to helping them to deal with the challenge of being a members club competing against rivals who have attracted considerable outside investment, although they wrested the league title back from Larne with relative ease.
But their budget is smaller than Shels and indeed many other Premier Division clubs. Their average league attendance of 2,713 would be the third lowest here, ahead of only Waterford and Drogheda United.
Only once in three attempts -—against Shamrock Rovers, on away goals, in 1984 — have they prevailed against a League of Ireland club.
For all that, they will pose a threat to Shels who, on Friday, won a game by more than a one-goal margin for the first time since the opening night of the season.
Healy’s first experience of European football was losing a cross-border tie, against Cork City, nine years ago.
As O’Brien strives to prove he is the right man to replace Duff, he could do without experiencing a similar fate.
