Drogheda United excluded from the Conference League

No international football is played here: Sullivan & Lambe Park, home of Drogheda United. IMAGO/Inpho Photography

It ultimately remained a brief dream: Drogheda United qualified for European competition for the first time since 2013. As Irish Cup winners, the team from the city of 44,000 inhabitants north of Dublin on Ireland's Baltic coast should have been part of the draw for the second round of the Conference League qualification next Wednesday – but this will not be the case.

On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a UEFA ruling that the club had violated UEFA's regulations on multi-club ownership. As a result, Drogheda United will be excluded from the 2025/26 Conference League season. The club's downfall lies in the Trivela Group's majority stake. In addition to the shares in Drogheda United, the Danish football club Silkeborg IF – which has also qualified for the Conference League next season – is also owned by the investors.

According to the regulations, for reasons of sporting integrity, two or more clubs controlled by the same institution cannot compete in the same competition. To avoid this, Manchester City and Girona FC, both part of the City Football Group , transferred shares to a blind trust last season so that the clubs could compete in the Champions League.

In the case of Drogheda United, however, this is not possible; the club has fallen victim to a rule change: This year, however, such a change in ownership must take place before March 1 – instead of June 3 as before. The objection from the Irish Baltic coast team, claiming they were unaware of the new deadline, has not changed this.

With "great regret and incomprehension," the club contacted its fans on Monday: "We completely disagree with this decision and had hoped and believed that the principles of fairness and common sense would prevail." Nevertheless, they intend not to let this setback discourage them: "Instead, we will use it as an incentive. Our club has never been given anything for free, and we have earned every inch through perseverance, resilience, and unity. And we will continue to do so."

Premier League club Crystal Palace will likely have also heard this decision with great interest, as the London club are facing a similar problem. At the time of the deadline, the Eagles' FA Cup triumph and thus qualification for the Europa League were not yet in sight. Now, the 12th-placed club in England's top flight also faces expulsion.

Co-owner John Textor, with his multi-club group Eagle Football, holds, among other things, a 45 percent stake in Palace and is also the majority owner of the storied club Olympique Lyon, which has also qualified for the second-tier international competition, with a stake of around 90 percent. The Drogheda United case could potentially set a precedent for other multi-club ownerships.