Mid-Season Friendlies Galore!

The Last Word by Brendan White

(first published in the July 2009 Finn Harps programme – originally issued for July 11th)

Most friendly matches for Irish clubs are usually scheduled as teams begin their preparation for the new League season. With the Irish and English Leagues now starting and ending at different times, Irish teams are already mid-season when English teams are preparing for their own new campaigns.

Years ago, a League of Ireland team arranging a friendly with a foreign club on Irish soil was thought of as a huge coup for the club. Now, as English and Scottish teams are currently returning for pre-season training over 20 matches are scheduled to take place involving Irish sides.

A few years back, the Blues faced Southampton two years in a row, and more recently Leicester City travelled to the RSC. Roy Keane and his new Ipswich Town team will make the trip to the Southeast to face the Blues on July 17th.

With Ipswich having already penned in friendlies against Finn Harps and Cork City, Blues fans were delighted to hear the Tractor Boys were coming to the RSC. Alex Bruce, Owen Garvan, Pablo Couñago and Jon Stead are some of the names that will be well known and Keane had admitted that he will be taking the matches seriously. Keane said he was “delighted” with the way their pre-season plans were shaping up. He is happy with a “nice mix of games” and thinks the trips to Ireland “will be a good challenge for the players.”

Sunderland again makes its regular trip to Ireland, this time to play Kildare and Athlone. Newcastle Utd, Leeds Utd and Charlton Athletic all come to Ireland over the next few weeks to face Irish opposition as they challenge Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, Wexford and Bray.

Shamrock Rovers have pulled off the match of the year as they face Real Madrid in Tallaght on the 20th July. The Galacticos are coming to Ireland for a training camp and Shamrock Rovers pulled off a shock when the match was announced. Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo are expected to be among the superstars on show for the Spanish club.

It’s matches like this that can keep a club going. Money raised from these games can go a long way for League of Ireland clubs. While the match itself may be somewhat meaningless to the visiting club sometimes, the training trip to Ireland has become a favourable choice for both English and Scottish clubs. For the home team and fans, it’s a chance to showcase your team to new fans and hopefully entice them to return. Cheap and easily accessible, trips to Ireland may be on the rise over the next few years.

While many just see the fixture on the list, the work behind the scenes by all clubs to arrange these matches is huge. Teams need to think it will benefit them and see a point in coming over. So any clubs who arrange these matches deserve a lot of credit and deserve a huge crowd to show up and vindicate the decision to organise it. Let’s hope for a full RSC when Keano arrives!