Busby Babes, scaring Bayern and Harry Kane - Shamrock Rovers in Europe

Shamrock Rovers have taken on plenty of Europe's biggest sides through the years

Such is the demand for tickets from travelling fans for Shamrock Rovers' visit to Chelsea on Thursday night, that home supporters have been warned they face a ban from Stamford Bridge should their tickets fall into Irish hands.

But while the Hoops' run to the Uefa Conference League knockouts is breaking new ground for the League of Ireland, their visit to west London this week is far from their first glamour tie in European competition.

Indeed, the Dublin club have a rich history of taking on some of the game's best over the years.

They were the first from their domestic league to take part in what was then the European Cup, with that piece of history coming against none other than the Manchester United side of Matt Busby.

The English champions were 6-0 winners in Dublin on 25 September 1957, although Rovers restored some pride when losing just 3-2 at Old Trafford in the second leg.

The games would represent one of the final European outings for the 'Busby Babes' with three of United's goalscorers from the tie among those who tragically lost their lives in the Munich air disaster only months later.

Gerd Muller's goal four minutes from time edged Shamrock Rovers 4-3 on aggregate in the 1966-67 Cup Winners' Cup

A regular presence in continental competition in the years after, Rovers won a first European tie at the seventh time of asking in the 1966-67 Cup Winners' Cup when they beat Spora Luxembourg 4-1 both home and away to set up a clash with giants Bayern Munich and their vaunted trio of Gerd Muller, Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer.

With Liam Tuohy, who had been in the team against Manchester United nine years earlier, acting as player-manager, Rovers drew 1-1 in Dublin before coming from two behind in Munich to level the game at 2-2 and late in the second half stood to go through on away goals.

An 86th-minute goal from Muller, however, denied them what would have been a historic triumph while the German side eventually went on to win the competition.

Ties against Celtic and Juventus, as well as a friendly against Real Madrid that featured Cristiano's Ronaldo first time in the white jersey, provided more memorable moments down the years.

More recently, reward for becoming the first Irish side to make the Europa League group stages in 2011-12 was a pairing with Chelsea's London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Goalkeeper Richard Brush had been out of football after suffering a wrist injury with previous club Sligo Rovers when he got the call to join the Hoops' European charge that season.

"I was going from being without a club to being thrown into Shamrock Rovers in the title race and at that stage in the Champions League qualifiers. I went from not having a club straight into the middle of this massive juggernaut of a run," he said.

"It was going into the unknown after a long injury and then being thrown into what was the biggest achievement in Irish football at the time.

"I remember the texts going round, sort of like, 'are you taking the mick, we've got Spurs?' It was huge for us."

Playing their first competitive game against English opposition since that trip to Old Trafford 54 years prior, Brush was in inspired form to deny Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko before Stephen Rice put the visitors into a shock lead.

Spurs, though, turned the game with three goals in six second-half minutes.

The return fixture in Dublin was a more straightforward affair for the star-studded Premiership side who won 4-0 but provided Brush, who was once Joe Hart's back-up at Shrewsbury Town, with an unusual claim to fame when he conceded the first of Harry Kane's record 280 goals for Spurs.

"His first goal, for him that is obviously a huge thing," said Brush.

"As silly as it sounds it's a memory for me too. For that to be his first goal and then gone on to have the career that he's had, it's nice to be remembered in some weird way."

Cristiano Ronaldo's first time playing for Real Madrid came in a friendly against Shamrock Rovers

The game against Spurs in Dublin was the last before then manager Michael O'Neill left the club to begin his first stint in charge of Northern Ireland.

After a lean spell by their own standards, when Dundalk assumed the mantle of the League of Ireland's trailblazers in Europe, Stephen Bradley's side emulated the great side of the 1980s with four domestic titles in a row between 2020 and 2023, a run that was ended last month by the Shelbourne side of former Chelsea winger Damien Duff.

It is what they have achieved in Europe, however, that has drawn wider attention as Bradley's side prepare to face Chelsea having already secured their place in the Conference League play-off round with a game to spare. An unlikely result in west London could even propel them straight into the last 16.

One of only three undefeated teams left in the competition along with this week's opponents and Vitoria de Guimaraes, their progress has been all the more remarkable for taking place against the backdrop of boardroom tensions between the supporter group that own 50% of the club and the businessmen Ray Wilson and Dermot Desmond who each hold a 25% share.

"There's no doubt that there's aspects that can definitely improve," said Bradley last week.

"If the club want to keep evolving and getting better, that needs to sort itself out – and sort itself out pretty quickly. I'm not sitting around those tables and involved in those conversations. But I know to get better, thinking needs to be aligned.

"What these players are doing right now is giving the club some of the best nights that they've ever had. If you're involved in Shamrock Rovers as a fan, as a director or shareholder, and you can't enjoy that, then you shouldn't be around the football club."

The first of Harry Kane's 280 goals for Tottenham Hotspur came against Shamrock Rovers in 2011

Meanwhile, there is already speculation about what the side will look like when the competition resumes in February. Playing in a summer league, Rovers are technically in their pre-season and have not played a competitive domestic fixture since 1 November.

Johnny Kenny, the Conference League's top scorer this season, will return to parent club Celtic in January, while others, notably including the out of contract Neil Farrugia, have been linked with moves away too.

Speaking after the Republic of Ireland's World Cup 2026 qualifying draw last week, national boss Heimir Hallgrimsson admitted it would be "easier" to select Rovers' players for future squads if they were playing elsewhere.

"It's easier to pick them if they are playing regularly before the national team comes together," he said.

"I'm pretty sure that a lot of teams in Europe are watching them and asking 'who are these guys going this far and doing this good in the tournament?'

"There's probably a lot of scouting on those players at the moment so hopefully they will get career change from this good success."

While some Rovers supporters did not look kindly upon those 'career change' comments, the select few travelling on Thursday will feel they are witnessing not a stepping stone but another chapter of a storied history.