Uefa CupWith 1,000 new seats and a handful of players having been bought in by the club's new owner ahead of this evening's Uefa Cup game at Richmond Park, the pace of St Patrick's Athletic transformation from the relative paupers of two years ago to the Irish game's princes of tomorrow has gathered pace of late.
If Garrett Kelleher's stated aims are true, then the club's long-term future looks bright indeed. Given the scale of his interests across the Atlantic, indeed, the Dublin-based property tycoon has the means required over time to deliver domestic glory.
Capital resources, then, aren't a problem. Just now, though, the clubs's crack at progressing beyond this competition's first round will, given the quality of the Odense side they face tonight, provide a more interesting insight into the value of its current assets.
The Danes boast plenty of talent. Thomas Helveg, the much -capped central defender, had impressive spells at Milan and Udinese before returning home to wind down his career. Ulrik Laursen, once of Celtic, is also in the squad along with a couple of others who have had spells in Britain, notably Madds Timm, the young striker once tipped to be a star of the future at Manchester United.
The visitors include the bulk of the squad that last year finished fourth in the league and progressed through the Intertoto Cup on the way to reaching the group stages of this competition.
For St Patrick's, anything remotely approaching that remains something of a dream at this stage. "We're probably a year ahead of schedule in terms of this European stuff," said John McDonnell last night, "but we're glad to be here and we'll give it a right good go. If we can take any sort of result over there we'd be happy."
His tone suggested there was a silent "decent" in there for the manager knows an away goal for Lars Olsen's side would be a hefty blow ahead of the return leg in two weeks' time. Olsen was in charge of Brondby when they beat Shelbourne home and away back in 2001 but McDonnell is unfazed. He said: "They're a good side. I've seen them once and watched a few games on DVD and they've been impressive but they're not the best team in the world."
Colm Foley, Gary O'Neill and Cameroon international, Joseph Ndo, are all still out with knee injuries while Stephen Quigley and newly-signed striker Keith Barker both face late fitness tests. Other new arrivals, particularly Michael Keane, look well short of full fitness with the 24-year-old himself estimating he is "70 per cent of the way there".
"We've still a fair squad to choose from, around 20 lads so we're not complaining," said McDonnell who added "a goalless draw wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen."
St Patrick's Ath v Odense
Richmond Park, 7.45
