The scale of the task Airtricity League outfits face on the international stage has been highlighted by figures contained in Uefa's accounts which show the extent to which European sides benefit from having international players on their books.
The Republic of Ireland was the only one of the 53 countries affiliated to Uefa whose clubs failed to attract any compensation payments from the European federation in respect of players being released to national associations to play in Euro2012 qualifying games or last summer's finals tournaments in Poland and Ukraine.
Solidarity payments
According to Uefa's accounts, 575 clubs across 52 leagues shared €100 million in solidarity payments from the scheme which was introduced under pressure from some of Europe's leading teams.
The larger outfits, predictably enough, were the main beneficiaries with Bayern Munich topping the list for Euro 2012 having received about €3.1 million while Arsenal and Manchester bring up the rear in the top 10 having each banked about €1.7 million.
But many far less well known sides received payments under the scheme, with at least one team from every single national league bar the Welsh League and League of Ireland picking up a cheque.
In the case of Wales, both Cardiff City and Swansea City, who play in the English league, received significant sums; €130,328 and €293,059 respectively.
Compensated
The Irish League came next closest to missing out with just one club, Linfield, receiving €4,193, while two sides in both Georgia and Bosnia Herzegovina were compensated.
Wolves, meanwhile, were paid €762,477, in no small part because of its Irish contingent.
Derry City’s opponents in the Europa league next week, Trabzonspor of Turkey received just over €240,000, but such a sum would be a very small part of the budget at a club like that.
Two clubs in Liechtenstein, Vaduz and Eschen, were paid about €200,000 under the scheme and in both of those cases a sum like that would be very significant indeed, as it would be to any Irish club.
The Airtricity League, at 33rd of 53 in the Uefa ladder, is ranked above many of the leagues whose sides benefited including the likes of Andorra, Armenia and Azerbaijan, but all of the others, whose best clubs play in their domestic league, had one or more players involved at some stage of Euro 2012.
The accounts, meanwhile, confirm that Shamrock Rovers were paid €1.3 million in respect of their participation in the 2011/12 Europa League.
