A loss to Denmark this evening will lead to fans feeling "enough is enough" with regards to the structures and health of Irish football, according to Stuey Byrne.
Byrne, a League of Ireland winner with Shelbourne, was on Monday's OTB AM and stated that while a win could plaster over Irish football's fault lines, a loss will lead to a dismal feeling regarding the national team's progression.
"I think there is a lot on the line tonight. The whole focus of Irish football is on the line tonight", Byrne explained.
"If we don't go through tonight, I think we are coming to a stage where people are thinking 'enough is enough. We really have to change how we approach football in this country.'
"But, we aren't there yet, I think it's important to be fair to the players who are preparing for the game tonight. They are there to do a job and it's important we get behind them."
However, Byrne added that despite the European Championships being just one win away, the players will be aware that it has been a largely mediocre campaign.
"They are no fools. Players deep down know certain results have gone our way. Do we really deserve to be where we are? We might have rode our luck a little bit.
"How many goals have we scored this campaign, six? Which is really poor, you know.
"They know they have a great opportunity to get out of jail tonight – they are no fools – but deep down there are bigger questions to answer."
While qualification against a strong Danish team will lead to the hailing of Mick McCarthy and his players, fundamentally, Byrne says, "the whole issue of Irish football is beyond that".
"I think the Irish supporters have got a big part to play in all this: they need to stand up and be heard to change this and I know there have been opportunities to do that."
"It's very difficult to change an organisation like the FAI because of how it's been structured. But you would think, because of the year that's in it, and hopefully with what's to come, and the reports we are going to see, that this would really be a time for transition."
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