St Patrick's Athletic have been looking into the prospect of renting the Aviva Stadium should they earn a meeting with Celtic in the next phase of Champions League qualifiers.
The Dublin side will play against the Scottish champions should they overcome Legia Warsaw tomorrow and Celtic finish the job against Icelandic side KR Reykjavik when they meet at Murrayfield tonight.
The Glasgow side are obliged to play the Champions League fixture at the home of Scottish rugby as Celtic Park is being used for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. The club could also compete at the home of Irish rugby, should St Patrick's Athletic emerge against Warsaw. The two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Poland.
The Irish side have been eyeing an £800,000 windfall since Friday's draw for the third qualifying round. The Dublin club remain the underdogs to progress against opponents boasting seven internationalists, of course, but they have remained optimistic about their prospects of progress,
John Collins, the Celtic assistant manager, has cited Dublin as Celtic's preferred destination for a match which will be played either next Tuesday or Wednesday, while St Pat's are expected to try and maximise revenue from the match by renting the 51,200-capacity Aviva Stadium if they can get through to face the Scottish titleholders.
The League of Ireland champions have already moved their meeting with Warsaw from their 2800-seater Richmond Park and will instead play at Tallaght Stadium, a 6000-capacity ground and the home of derby rivals Shamrock Rovers. It is anticipated that a similar move to the Aviva Stadium next week could lead to profits of £800,000 from gate receipts, TV revenue and UEFA prize money.
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