Football used to be a sport with an element of business, now it's the other way around. So declared a dejected Arsenal supporter last week as he contemplated the financial revolution which is rapidly changing the face of English football.

Rupert Murdoch may not have heard of Waterford United or Sligo Rovers, but National League clubs in Ireland are attempting a revolution of their own.

Ironically, the process was kickstarted by the influx of the so-called "Sky money" into the game in the early 1990s, which enabled clubs to erect floodlights for Friday and Saturday evening matches when the competition of televised attractions elsewhere is less intense.

The money was paid by the English Football Association to compensate Irish clubs for having Premiership matches from England broadcast in this jurisdiction on Sunday afternoons.

Since then clubs have poured tens of thousands of pounds - in some cases with National Lottery support - into improving playing surfaces, developing spectator facilities and strengthening their playing squads. Now the talk is of 20,000-seater stadiums and even having an Irish club in a European super league.

But there is still an awful long way to go. Only about half a dozen clubs here have full-time commercial managers or chief executives "out there promoting their clubs", according to the chairman of the National League, Mr Michael Hyland.

Even fewer clubs have their own bars, never mind the kind of corporate facilities needed to entice business leaders to choose Friday-night soccer as suitable entertainment for their clients.

While Shelbourne plans to provide such facilities in a new stand at Tolka Park, St Patrick's Athletic is working on an ambitious five-year development plan and Shamrock Rovers dreams of a new stadium in Tallaght, most clubs continue to live a hand-to-mouth existence.

Keeping clubs like Kilkenny City on the road is a constant struggle, according to club director Mr Jim Rhatigan. "It's about begging and borrowing; we haven't resorted to stealing yet, but it's always an option."

Now back in the First Division after a season in the Premier Division, Kilkenny has spent about £250,000 in the past three years developing its pitch, building a 500-seater stand and improving dressing room, car parking and other facilities at Buckley Park. The ultimate aim is a 10,000-seater stadium.

"We went totally amateur a few seasons ago. The players didn't even get a fish and chip on the way home, though they all worked hard. We finished with two points in the league, but that season we built a stand," he said.

Similar developments are taking place all over the State. Television viewers of Cork City's recent home match against CSKA Kiev were struck by the sight of a new stand, work in progress behind one goal and a first-class playing surface.

Sligo Rovers is building a new stand at the Showgrounds. Bray Wanderers has built one using the seats from Bolton Wanderers's old Burnden Park ground. Waterford United, recently promoted to the Premier Division and transformed into a plc, has started a development programme including ground improvements.

St Patrick's Athletic, the Premier Division champions, wants to build a £20 million 20,000-seat stadium near its current home, the grandiosely-named Stadium of Light, in Inchicore.

But is there an Irish soccer public large enough to sustain such ambitious ideas? Mr Hyland insists that with continued increased TV exposure - RTE will again be screening about 10 league matches, plus cup games, live this season - the mini-renaissance will continue.

"Television gives the clubs a great opportunity to promote the game and increase their advertising revenue," he says.

But some, like Finn Harps chairman Mr Conor Boyce, believe that more needs to be done. He says the gap between the league's richer and poorer clubs is widening and the game as a whole needs a much higher profile.

"We've got to give spectators better facilities to watch matches in comfort with their families . . . but if you spend money on the ground, you haven't got it to spend on the team they're coming to watch, so it's a Catch 22 situation."

Finn Harps was turned into a co-op two years ago, selling shares at £250 each on the basis that 80 per cent of the finance raised would be spent on ground development. The Ballybofey club now has 600 shareholders - the target is 1,000 - and a £60,000 terrace is under construction. An 8,000-seat stadium within three to five years is the target.

While impressive progress has been made, the scale of the Irish revolution is put into perspective by Shelbourne board member, Mr Martin Fitzpatrick, who estimates that the total turnover of the National League's 22 clubs is about £5.8 million. That's less than 1 per cent of the value put on Manchester United last week by BSkyB.

Such a gap would indicate that Irish soccer is destined to be forever on the sidelines in the television dominated world of European football in the new millennium.

Waterford United's new general manager, Mr Bob Breen, disagrees. Like his St Patrick's Athletic counterpart, Mr Pat Dolan, Mr Breen is an Englishman of Irish descent who talks a good game for the National League.

"Waterford city and county has a large catchment area. The club got 8,000 supporters for an FAI Cup semi-final against Shelbourne the season before last, and that shows the potential," he said. There is no reason why Waterford cannot have a professional team competing successfully in European competitions, he says.

Elsewhere the talk is of a European super league with a franchise for a single Dublin club. It was probably with such lucrative possibilities in mind that Shelbourne recently turned down a £1 million takeover bid from an Irish business consortium in Britain.

Nobody yet knows what effect the existence of one "super club" in Dublin would have on the rest of the National League, but Mr Hyland says a Premier Division of 10 to 12 full-time professional clubs is achievable.

We already have the sport. We just need that element of business.