The League of Ireland, and Irish football as a whole, can emerge from a successful Euro 2028 bid stronger than ever - but plans to capitalise on the hosting of a major tournament must be put in place as soon as possible.
That’s according to Pádraig Smith, a former FAI and UEFA official who last week was appointed president of MLS side Colorado Rapids.
US chiefs are already working on turning Major League Soccer into a brand that can rival the biggest in the world.
Their goals include improvements in grassroots, academy and domestic league structures.
And much of their planning is around the co-hosting of the 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada.
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Seeing the planning and strategising already taking place on his side of the Atlantic, Smith believes similar long-term thinking ahead of Euro 2028 would guarantee a lasting legacy for Irish football.
He said: “Any time you get more eyeballs on the sport, more interest in the sport, how you capitalise on that comes down to the strategy that you have put in place hopefully long before the event itself takes place.”
Last week, as the joint bid for Euro 2028 was confirmed by the FAI and government, taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke of “an opportunity to ensure long-lasting benefits for League of Ireland, local and youth football.”
There were no specifics, however, from Leinster House or from Abbotstown.
But it’s never too early to start making plans - and Smith believes this is a golden opportunity for Irish football at a time when the League of Ireland is growing in popularity.
“With all of these things (bids), there may be pros and cons to them,” he said.
“But if you have got a good plan together and you understand how you are going to integrate the opportunity with what you currently have, that’s the most important thing for me.
“If you look at the Euros, if we have an opportunity to host that in Ireland, it can’t but be a good thing in my viewpoint.
“There are going to be so many people looking at football, so many people watching the best players and that’s always a good thing.
“You have got to have that plan in place in advance, you have to understand how you are going to capitalise on that, what kind of infrastructure you are going to need to make sure you can take advantage of that and provide the platforms for the increased interest to actually be realised.
“I think we are seeing that in the League of Ireland, I’ve heard that games last weekend in Dublin were sold out, which is absolutely terrific.
“The atmosphere in the games right now is really phenomenal. And obviously the quality of play continues to improve.
“You hear of young Irish lads going over to places like Germany and Italy now and things like that, and that’s really exciting.
“But we have still got to be in a position where, sure, players that can go to a level like Serie A or the Bundesliga, brilliant, that’s really important and really beneficial, but there is a whole host of talented young players that we have got to provide a really strong platform for in Ireland.
“That is certainly happening now to a level that really does provide a good quality product on the field, which is so exciting.
“So, yeah, I’m hugely hopeful that Ireland can get that bid, because I think it will be a great platform for further growth in the sport.”
So what of the US experience so far, ahead of 2026?
Smith joined Rapids in 2015, initially as sporting director, and his new deal keeps him at the club until after the next World Cup.
He said: “I think the World Cup is all about growing the level of interest in the sport in general.
“If we look at those major tournaments, the level of interest that arises for the sport, both pre and post, is huge. You are after the hearts and minds of the kids.
“The next generation of players here in the United States will have the opportunity to watch the world’s very best players on their doorstep.
“They are going to be able to watch these games live, they are going to be able to feel the buzz, feel the excitement that goes with these games, and they are hopefully going to get attracted to the sport.
“That’s one of the things MLS has done incredibly well with over here and it’s certainly what we are trying to focus on in Colorado, we want to have a club that has really strong infrastructure that can support those grassroot initiatives.
“You want to have a youth development system that obviously captures and develops the best elite players, but also provides programming right the way down to grassroots level.
“Then you also need to have a strong connection with the community.
“And if you are looking at those three pillars and how you interact with the community and give back to the community, those are the three pillars that we feel will most benefit from this World Cup.
“You will see a significant growth in grassroots participation, and then that participation will drive on into the academies, which are now really well formed in the US and are really starting to produce the type of talent that plays on the global scale.
“It’s good for the sport, it’s good for the clubs, good for the league and good for the national team.
“The level of talent in the younger age groups is incredible over here and I think the World Cup will help that.
“Then on the commercial side you are looking for that increased interest from a supporter base.
“You are looking at more people understanding what this sport can be, the excitement it brings, how it connects back into the community.
“The World Cup is going to give us that captive audience that can put the sport on a platform. It will give us an opportunity to amplify that on a level we have never seen before.”
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