Limerick's Fairview Rangers gearing up for fairytale cup tie with Shelbourne

Fairview Rangers are gearing up for a fairytale FAI Cup tie when they welcome Premier Division side Shelbourne to The Fairgreen this Saturday evening.

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Fairview earned a safe passage to the second round of the Sports Direct FAI Cup after they defeated Baldoyle United, of Dublin, 4-0 in May.

That win has now set up a mouth-watering clash with the 2024 Premier Division champions who are, since last month, without the manager who brought them that success.

Damien Duff's shock departure at the end of June adds another layer to this intriguing tie. Duff's assistant and former Premier League defender Joey O'Brien has been tasked with the role of head coach.

Mick Shiel and his Fairview side will will be looking to undertake a giant killing act when he welcomes their Dublin opponents to The Fairgreen on Saturday night.

Fairview Ranger's Chairman Derek White is looking forward to this Saturday's clash.

“We're absolutely looking forward to it, it's not every day you get the play the Premier Division champions, so it's going to be an historic day for the club no matter what way the result goes,” he said.

“It's a free shot for us and hopefully we get a big crowd there, it will hopefully be a great day, a memorable day,” he added.

Whyte admits preparations for the players ahead of the tie have been 'a bit tricky' considering Fairview's season ended a number of weeks ago. 

“It's a bit tricky because the players only finished playing about three or four weeks ago and then you're asking them to come back and start training again at the start of July and the fact that you're playing Shelbourne makes it all the more difficult because if you're not at it, these lads can give you a right hammering," he said. 

Fairview have been in contact with their Dublin opponents, who are expected to bring a big crowd down to Limerick from the capital.

“They're talking about bringing down 250 to 300 supporters and that would be brilliant. If we got an attendance of anywhere between 1,200 to 1,500 that would be great."

"It's the holiday period, it's the middle of July, people are off, so definitely like I was saying, anywhere between 1,200 and 1,500 would be a great attendance and I think we would be happy with that.”

Chairman Whyte says the mood around the club has been great since the draw has been made. Fairview had already enjoyed a near perfect season, completing a historic treble, Whyte says drawing Shelbourne at home was the 'cherry on top of the cake.'

“To win the treble and to have such a successful season, getting Shelbourne in the Cup and to get them at home is the cherry on top of the cake. If you were to hand pick a draw at the time it would've been Shelbourne so we're delighted” he said.

Preparations for the game, understandably, have been unlike any other game that Fairview, as a club, have had to prepare for. Whyte says that a lot of work has gone into making sure that everything is in order for Saturday's clash.

"There's a great buzz at the moment, there's a lot of preparation to be done. For the volunteers around the club who maybe aren't used to hosting a game of this size so there's a lot of things we have to do for this game that we ordinarily wouldn't have to do for other games."

"Things like ambulances and fire officers but with the amount of work we've had done to the ground over the last year or so, it's fitting that we were able to get a draw like this so we're certainly not complaining," he said. 

Whyte says that the club aren't taking recent events for granted, stating that he has enough experience to know how quickly things can change. 

"As everyone knows who is in a voluntary role in a club, there's plenty of ups and down. I've been chairman 11 years now and I've seen relegation battles as well as success and in junior soccer it can change so quickly," he said.

"So when you're up there you just go to keep striving to do the right things to keep yourself there because when you're up there, every other team in the division is trying to knock you off and it can be difficult because Limerick is a fiercely competitive city and if you're not careful it's back in relegation battles you'll be," he added.

"We're not taking anything for granted, we're relishing this opportunity and we're not going to take our eye off the ball," he concluded.