Where to next for the League of Ireland after record-breaking day?

Over 33,000 paid into the Aviva Stadium yesterday to see Bohemians beat Shamrock Rovers, breaking the all-time attendance record for the SSE Airtricity League as the good feeling around the domestic game reached new heights.

It follows on from packed houses at Richmond Park, Tolka Park, Turner's Cross and The Showgrounds earlier in the weekend.

This century, we've seen the new Croke Park attract large crowds to GAA, rugby - both international and provincial - and Republic of Ireland soccer matches. Even for smaller games, the Dublin footballers and Leinster Rugby have been able to far surpass the crowds that any League of Ireland fixture could attract.

But it felt like, finally, domestic soccer had arrived yesterday, with the idea of a regular league game drawing more than 10,000 before Covid - never mind 30,000 - being fairly far-fetched.

"I did enjoy it, I'm doing it a while now, but it was just great to be involved," Bohemians manager Alan Reynolds said afterwards.

"When the game started you were just caught up in the game. I'm delighted to be involved in it and I thought it was fantastic. I suppose when you win... even if I hadn't have won, I still would have said it was a great occasion."

These sentiments were echoed by Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley, adding: "It's another positive step forward for the league. It's brilliant to see 32,000 there for a domestic game.

"Hopefully there's many more of them to come. It shows that if we have the infrastructure, the facilities, we will get the people through the doors.

"It's a positive step for Irish football domestically."

Part of the league's inability to get bums on seats over the years has been to do with the facilities, or lack thereof, that are available to clubs