St Pat's need another Euro turnaround one year after changing course of Mason Melia's career
Bayer Leverkusen had already shown their hand but Melia only had eyes for the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur's courtship began much earlier but they were not the first English club to make a solid move. That was Everton, who sent a delegation to Inchicore a year ago to try and work out a deal.
A bid in the region of €1 million was put forward by the Merseyside club, and very quickly rejected.
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Melia's performances in Europe would justify that patience.
By the time the first leg of the Uefa Conference League play-off with Istanbul Başakşehir came around the fee was rising steadily. The forward's display at Tallaght Stadium against the Turkish club brought things to a different level.
Senior Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson was in attendance and came away impressed by Melia's confidence and maturity leading the line against a robust and experienced outfit, as well as swiftly putting a missed chance just outside the six-yard box to the back of his mind and continuing to cause problems in attack.
Celtic made a really strong play for Melia before he eventually joined Spurs, and there was even an earlier visit to Chelsea.
But a record breaking €2 million fee – potentially rising to €4m with two sell-on clauses for the League of Ireland club – was confirmed with Spurs and it is clear that those performances in Europe 12 months ago was a defining period.
A year on and St Pat's once again head into a Conference League campaign low on confidence, searching for inspiration to give their season a necessary jolt when FC Hegelmann, currently third after 19 games in Lithuania, arrive for the first leg of their first-round UEFA Conference League tie tonight.
'I hope so. There's no guarantees just because you did it before. Again, there's no guarantees or anything like that, but we've got to fight for our lives. We've got to fight for our lives. And we definitely have to do that. And we've got to give everything of ourselves to get the victory that we need in Europe. And that's what we must strive to do,' manager Stephen Kenny said in the aftermath of Friday's 0-0 draw with Bohemians in the Premier Division.
That stalemate meant the Saints have scored just once in over 10 hours of football.
They beat Sligo Rovers 1-0 away from home before the mid-season break on 30 May but, since returning to action, there have been three defeats and three draws. But the malaise began from a point of supposed power when they were top of the table on 2 May. Two wins in 12 fixtures since have caused even more concern because it has come at a stage when the expectation was that there would be clear signs of progress on the back of what was an inspired second half of last season.
When Kenny led St Pat's into second round action (due to a bye) against Vaduz last July they had just been beaten 3-0 away to Derry City and knocked out of the FAI Cup. Europe stirred something in the Saints and even Kenny, getting to grips with a return to the League of Ireland after his time in charge of the international team, seemed to have a renewed sense of vigour at the possibilities that remain open to clubs in this country by delivering in Europe.
Of the six matches Pat's played in the qualifying rounds last year it was only the second leg of the play-off in Istanbul that proved a step too far, a first defeat after three wins and two draws.
Provided Chris Forrester is fit enough to feature in both legs he will become the record appearance for the club in Europe – currently held by Ian Bermingham on 24. Pat's have more pedigree in Europe than their opponents, who lost 5-0 to Shkupi of Macedonia in 2023/24.
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Shamrock Rovers fans will remember the North Macedonian side as Stephen Bradley's men triumphed 5-2 on aggregate in 2022/23.
Kenny cited the different make up of the Heglemann side yesterday, referencing Cameroon striker Abdel Kader Njoya and Brazlian playmaker Léo Ribeiro, as well as Serbian midfielder Lazar Kojic, Ukrainian wide man Artem Shchedryi, and the versatile Japanese player Carlos Duke.
And the club itself was only founded in 2009, owned and bankrolled by a German logistics company.
As Melia will tell you, you never know where European football can take you.
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RTÉ News
8 hours ago
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