{
  "id": 1434051,
  "title": "Dublin Dons? The failed attempt to bring a Premier League club to Ireland",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/dublin-dons-the-failed-attempt-to-bring-a-premier-league-club-to",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-17T06:19:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "BBC Sport Football",
    "slug": "bbc-sport-football",
    "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c05q03v8nrno?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the 1990s, a far-fetched plan emerged to bring a Premier League club to Dublin. This idea came about after a Sunday broadsheet report highlighted Wimbledon chairman Sam Hammam's troubled relationship with Merton Council over a permanent stadium. Hammam, who bought the club in 1981, had been ground-sharing with Crystal Palace since 1991. The club's charismatic players, such as David Beckham, had helped generate interest in the Premier League, with a record crowd of 75,000 fans attending a friendly match at Croke Park in 1995.\n\nTommy Higgins, working for Ticketmaster Ireland, suggested a radical solution to the club's ground issues. He knew that property developer Owen O'Callaghan had planning permission to build a 40,000-seater stadium on the outskirts of Dublin. The key to making this plan work was securing an anchor tenant for the new stadium. This led to a handshake between Higgins, Maurice Cassidy, Eamon Dunphy, and Paul McGuinness, forming a consortium to bring the Premier League to Dublin.\n\nThe mid-1990s was a transitional period for English football, with the league slowly moving away from its British and Irish roots. Roman Abramovich's acquisition of Chelsea in 1998 was still years away, but the league was beginning to attract foreign ownership. On August 17, 1996, the new Premier League season began with Gianfranco Zola and Fabrizio Ravanelli making Premier League debuts. However, the spotlight was on a local talent from Dublin – David Beckham, whose audacious lob goal against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park captured the world's attention.\n\nThe Irish consortium's £6 million bid for 74% of the club, effectively making them the new owners, was met with skepticism. Some team members remained skeptical, while others recognized the potential of the plan. Ultimately, the idea of a Premier League club in Dublin garnered more attention than success on the pitch.",
  "summary": "Just how close did an Irish consortium come to buying a Premier League team and moving them to Dublin?",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "BBC Sport",
        "title": "Dublin Dons? The failed attempt to bring a Premier League club to Ireland",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/dublin-dons-the-failed-attempt-to-bring-a-premier-league-club-to-1434074",
        "published": "2026-08-17T06:19:22.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}