Is this fella talking about us or them? Is he one to add to the ITK list?
Premier League champions Manchester City will grace Irish shores once more for a leg of their pre-season tour as they tackle Limerick FC in a money-spinning, high profiled friendly scheduled for August 5th. Kick-off for the fixture will be at 7pm and tickets are available as of now from various outlets.
In a city dominated by rugby, in a stadium which prides itself as the spiritual stronghold of Munster, Limerick FC chairman Pat O’Sullivan called for a united front for sport in the city to improve its overall image and social structure.
Beginning the press conference with his traditional GAA joke, O’Sullivan first gave thanks to the men sitting alongside him for their co-operation in delivering the fixture; John Cantwell, who is the stadium director of Thomond Park and Damien O’Brien of Iconic Sports, who are promoting the event itself. He was quick to thank the FAI, who sanctioned the game within 24 hours.
O’Sullivan spoke highly of the world class facilities around him and the outlet it has given to the city. “Look around you. Thomond Park has given a lot to this city and each Heineken Cup game generates in the region of 10 million euro for the local economy. It is expected that, attendance depending, this fixture will generate the same levels of income.”
A full squad will be on display according to the figure head of Limerick FC with “all the major stars available, including a new signing, which will be announced this week.”
Limerick themselves have dubbed it as the “Battle of the Blues” with “Super Mario” taking on “Superman” Pat Purcell.
All three men seemed confident of having Thomond Park established as a soccer venue in future, and confirmed that UEFA consider it to be a fully licensed stadium for soccer.
While the club themselves may feel humbled by their guests, Pat O’Sullivan showed his gratitude at their selection of Limerick. “This team could go anywhere in the world, but they have chosen us. We would like to sincerely thank them for that. We have to prepare these things nine months in advance, and we have been working at this for a year. We had many clubs interested, but Man City were at the top of our list.”
This friendly is to be the first of many according to O’Sullivan, with Limerick having secured a ten year agreement with the FAI to host fixtures in Thomond Park. A big name friendly match is to be an annual event in Limerick.
While Limerick are set to tackle Shamrock Rovers in the semi-final of the EA Sports Cup the day after, O’Sullivan admitted that moving it may be problematic. “There are factors that are out of control, and re-scheduling the game may not happen.”
Manchester City played in Thomond Park against a Limerick side in 1991. The hosts consisted of a predominantly Limerick based team, with the occasional guest from Cork. The “Limerick” squad consisted of: John Grace,Julian Lyons, Kevin Power , Tom Hartnett, Alan Shanahan, Barry Ryan, Ray O'Halloran, Albert Finnan, Declan Hyde, Patsy Freyne, Michael O'Connor, David McMahon, David Minihan, Brian Swords, Johnny Walsh, Joe Boyle, Joe Barriscale, Declan Barriscale, Paul Hogan, Stephen Napier,Declan Daly and Phillip Long.
City have always had a strong Irish contingent in their ranks. In more recent years, the likes of Richard Dunne, Stephen Ireland, Shay Given, Greg Cunningham, Jon Macken, Niall Quinn and Gary Doherty would have worn the sky blue jersey.
Speaking to the spokesman for the Limerick branch of the Manchester City Supporters' Club, he appears to be very excited by the fixture. "We've been spoiled by City over the years -this is their third visit to Thomond Park; they were in the Aviva only last August and, of course, Patrick Vieira, Paul Lake & City in the Community were with us for a very special couple of days, last February.
“We've always been afforded a fabulous welcome whenever we've travelled to Manchester - never more so than under the current ownership, I might add - and we're certainly looking forward to the opportunity to reciprocate with a cead mile failte. I know that there is no greater sporting public than the Limerick crowd and - despite the top seats being a bit on the pricey side - I've no doubt that this particular event will be a sell out.
“City have always had a fabulous support (crowds of 30,000 regularly watched City's league games in the third tier of English football, a few years back) and with regular flights from both Manchester & Liverpool into Shannon, I can see this fixture being of great interest to the Blue Army. They're a very amiable lot, the City fans and I know that they'll leave many friends in the Treaty City."
Tickets are currently on sale and the prices are as follows:
Category A Seats: E30.
Category B seats: E20.
Terraces: E15.
Junior: E10.
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