Congratulations, Shamrock Rovers!

[MrCoffee]

This is such a great story. The Irish side will face Tottenham, Rubin Kazan and PAOK Salonika in the group stage of the Europa League, thanks to this fantastic goal during their play-off against Partizan Belgrade.

Champions of a domestic league where the highest earner trousers approximately €50,000 per year and the average salary is less than half that, the Irish champions went into last night's second leg desperately needing to score after a 1-1 draw in Dublin. A first-half Vladimir Volkov goal for Partizan, who played in last season's Champions League group stages, meant Rovers still needed a goal, which arrived in the scarcely credible form of an astonishing 30-yard screamer on the volley from full-back Pat Sullivan, to restore parity just before the hour. Substitute Stephen O'Donnell's extra-time penalty may not have been as aesthetically pleasing as his team-mate's strike, but will go down as the first spot-kick in football history to prompt the name of a League of Ireland club to trend worldwide on Twitter.

It's one hour and 34 minutes from Belgrade by plane, a short hop but plenty of time for Roche to have contemplated the long road the 16-times League of Ireland title-winners have travelled since their demotion to the second tier of the League of Ireland in 2005. While flirting with extinction and suffering the ignominy of relegation after years of financial mismanagement, Rovers were eventually saved by a consortium of supporters, including their current chairman, who have since turned the most successful club in Irish history into a model of prudence: one owned and run by its own fans, with a sustainable financial plan and loyal local support in their Dublin home of Tallaght.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/aug/26/shamrock-rovers-hoop-dreams