One of the subplots around Sunday's Sports Direct FAI Cup final is that a Shamrock Rovers victory would secure European football next season for their bitter rivals Bohemians.
Bohs fans might be cheering them on through gritted teeth, if such a thing is possible.
Of course it is also worth pointing out that if the Hoops lift the trophy at Aviva Stadium, Derry City fans will also have cause to celebrate, as it would guarantee their place in the Europa League qualifiers next summer and the extra prize pot that would accrue.
It perhaps is no surprise that a Shamrock Rovers player would be asked about the scenario that would play out if they were to complete the league/cup double.
The question was posed to Graham Burke at a media day in advance of the final.
Has he received any texts from Bohemians fans in the past week?
"Bohs fans don't particularly like me so I wouldn't be getting any texts from them," was his response.
He continued: "Obviously if we win the cup Bohs get into Europe but we're not thinking about them, we are fully focussed on ourselves."
You would not expect Burke to say anything else.
With five league titles won out of the last six and progression in Europe, winning the double is the last box to be ticked for this current Hoops crop. The opportunity then to emulate what the club achieved under the Jim McLaughlin and Dermot Keeley in the 1980s: they achieved three doubles, the last of which was in 1987.
A year when Rovers said goodbye to Glenmalure Park in Milltown.
KRAM (Keep Rovers at Miltown) was an often-used acronym back then as reports on the campaign made front-page news.
The club's passionate support could not stop the sale of their pitch and so began a nomadic existence that took the Hoops from the RDS to Santry Stadium and a few other spots, including Tolka Park, in between.
Writing in the Sunday Independent, Eamon Dunphy equated Rovers' leaving of Milltown as a sign that "domestic football has died". A decade earlier Dunphy and John Giles returned from England with a plan to transform Rovers into a European force. Their hopes and dreams floundered, well it never really got off the ground if truth be told.
The former Milwall player was done with the League of Ireland. He criticised the late Philip Green and Con Houlihan in the said piece, claiming that "Green had wept his way across the airwaves giving sentimentality a bad name in the process", while Houlihan's pledge to donate £1,000 to save Milltown was shot down too.
It wasn't long before Dunphy was trying to bring Wimbledon to Dublin: The Dublin Dons.
As for the Dublin Hoops, what followed were highs (a league title in 1994) and lows (relegation from the Premier Division in 2005 and the club going into an examinership). The formation of the 400 Club was the beginning of a new era, with the examiner accepting the 400 Club's bid for Shamrock Rovers, so saving the club from extinction.
With the assistance of South Dublin County, Tallaght would become Rovers' new permanent home once a legal dispute with Thomas Davis GAA was sorted out.
On 13 March, 2009, Tallaght Stadium opened, with Shamrock Rovers hosting Sligo Rovers. A nice symmetry as the pair also met in the final match played at Milltown.
The Hoops would become a force in time. Yes, Michael O'Neill did bring them league titles and a place in the Europa League group stages, but Dundalk and Cork City were the dominant forces for much of the last decade.
The FAI Cup win in 2019, a first in 32 years, was the opening of a valve where trophies would follow under the new man at the helm, Stephen Bradley.
Four league titles on the spin; appearances in the latter stages of the Conference League, and now the chance to do the domestic double for the first time under Bradley's stewardship.
Cork City lie in wait. The club that got relegated from this year's top flight, but an outfit who showed enough in their semi-final win over St Pat's that they can flex their muscles and cause more than a stir.
The neutral support will clearly lie with Ger Nash's side, who recently travelled to the Aviva to get accustomed to the place. Seani Maguire, their cup final hero from 2016, no doubt leading the guided tour.
Rovers, perhaps not as familiar with the Dublin 4 venue as they would like. They were present, however, on the opening weekend of the season, with Bohs, in what was a 'home league' game for them, coming away with the points.
Celebration time for one club in February, but now there's a chance for both of these rivals to dance another jig in November. Maybe there are a few Hoops supporters, and I stress only a few, who would forgo a cup win out of spite, so as to deny their enemy a chance to share in UEFA's financial goodies.
Rovers will want to add to what will only be a third cup triumph in close to 40 years. A barren return for the so-called competition specialists.
For Stephen Bradley, a win on Sunday evening would further cement his standing in the management game. He would have achieved it all domestically.
The next target?
Reach the group stages of the Europa League? That's a step up.
Would he try his luck abroad?
Is he a potential Ireland manager? At 41, time is very much on his side.
Ahead of the final he spoke to the media about his admiration for the side of the 1980s.
"That team of the 80s were a special team, some say the best to ever play in the league, and they paved the way for us to go and follow."
No doubt he will want to leave his own legacy, even if that means those bitter rivals from the other side of river cash in on a cup triumph of his own making.
Watch the Sports Direct FAI Cup final, Shamrock Rovers v Cork City, on Sunday from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
