As UEFA begin making contingency plans in the event of Rangers, Liverpool, or even both clubs making the Europa League Final, Dublin is bracing itself.
The Aviva Stadium in the capital of the Republic of Ireland has a capacity of 51,700 but that will only be a fraction of even just the Ibrox supporters who make the jaunt across the water in any such event.
As a result, UEFA have already booked out the nearby 82,000-capacity Croke Park stadium as a contingency plan and public viewing platform.
But even that might not be enough to accommodate the large swathes of supporters making the trip with UEFA this week admitting such an event would be “extremely challenging”.
UEFA making Europa League Final contingency plans
The entire conversation around Rangers, Liverpool, and the Europa League Final stems from comments made by UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis this week.
Whilst the UEFA staffer didn’t name names in his summary, it’s not hard to read between the lines.
“Under certain conditions, because of the potential teams that could qualify, this might end up being the most challenging for us,” Theodoridis said.
“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.”
Rangers and Liverpool aren’t the only British sides in the competition either, with West Ham and Brighton also still part of the Europa League this season.
As a result, even at this early stage there’s not a hotel in Dublin free on the night of match.
Over 200k Rangers and Liverpool fans in Dublin?
To get an idea of just how big a Rangers v Liverpool Final in Dublin would be, we need only look at the Europa League and Champions League Finals of 2022.
Rangers brought over 100k fans to Seville to see their side beaten on penalties by Eintracht Frankfurt, whilst Liverpool brought around 60k supporters to Paris, to see their side beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid.
But given the proximity of Dublin to both Glasgow and Liverpool – and the fact the island of Ireland has a large contingent of Rangers and Liverpool fans – more would be expected here.
Rangers famously took 150k fans to Manchester for the UEFA Cup Final in 2008, with similar numbers expected in the event of a Final in the Republic of Ireland.
Not to mention the fact the club’s anthem Follow, Follow also includes the line “if we go to Dublin we will follow on”.
Liverpool meanwhile would also be likely to take huge numbers – in a match which is complicated by the fact it could be Jurgen Klopp’s final match as Liverpool manager – in a truly heart-in-mouth scenario for UEFA chiefs.
That’s before we mention the fact that both sets of supporters don’t entirely get on.
Early estimates suggest the population of Dublin would swell north of 200k people for the Europa League Final should Rangers and Liverpool make it.
