Drogheda United in strong statement as they appeal European ban

June 12, 2025

Drogheda United are going to appeal the decision to expel them from the Europa Conference League.

The club received notification from UEFA confirming their place is under threat due to falling foul of the multi-club rule.

Trivela Club, who own Drogheda, also owns Swedish side Silkeborg who qualified for the same competition.

Drogheda sealed their European spot by beating Derry in the FAI Cup with a 2-0 victory in November. Silkeborg were also winners of their domestic cup.

In the event of joint ownership featuring in the same competition, the rules state that the lower-ranked side would be omitted.

In this case, Drogheda’s ninth-place finish last season would lose out to Silkeborg’s seventh-placed finish.

Drogheda United say ban is harsh and unfair

The club released a strongly worded statement claiming they will take their case to CAS (Court for Arbitration for Sport).

It read: “The club can confirm that it has been notified by Uefa that we are facing expulsion from the Uefa Conference League due to Drogheda United and Silkeborg IF having both qualified for the same competition.

“This is despite significant efforts by the club to work constructively with Uefa to make necessary ownership and governance changes to allow both to compete over the past several months.

“We are devastated by this potential development and believe it would be both harsh and unfair, given the way brand new rule changes this year have been, in our view, inconsistently communicated and enforced across various clubs.

“We are now appealing the decision to the Court for Arbitration for Sport.

“What we can say is this: we are – even at this late hour – fighting to do anything and everything we can to secure our players’, supporters’ and community’s place in Europe.

“We have been in active dialogue with UEFA for months and have put forward a share disposition, trust arrangements, and various other undertakings consistent with recent CFCB precedent, only to have all of those efforts rebuffed.”

The club also added the CAS hearing will take place on Monday.

Similar story across Europe

Crystal Palace’s place in the Europa League is also under threat. They qualified for the tournament following their FA Cup triumph.

Their owner, Eagle Football, also has a majority stake in French giants Lyon.

Palace’s argument to stay in the competition relies on the fact that they believe their success had nothing to do with Lyon. They have not sent or received any loan players and will have no connection to Lyon in the Europa League next season.