IRELAND HAVE ADDED a second summer friendly as they prepare for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland.
The Boys in Green will meet Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday, 4 June, before facing England three days later and the Scots on 13 June.
Fans will not get the chance to see the training match, however, as it will be played behind closed doors.
“With the season ending early for a lot of our players, we see this as a mutually beneficial exercise for both sides,” said Martin O’Neill.
“Holding the match behind closed doors will give us the flexibility to make any changes we see fit ahead of the European qualifiers on 13 June. The Championship season ends on 2 May, and if players are not involved in play-offs, that could be over a month without any games.
It represents an ideal opportunity to build the intensity of our preparations, leading into the England friendly, and before the important qualifier against Scotland.”
Northern Ireland, managed by former Shamrock Rovers boss Michael O’Neill, sit second in their qualifying group behind leaders Romania after wins over Hungary, the Faroe Islands and Greece.
The game will represent a first meeting between the sides since the Carling Nations Cup in May 2011, when Ireland romped to a 5-0 victory at the same ground.
“Having the game behind closed doors will allow both myself and Martin flexibility, which we wouldn’t have under normal international circumstances, and it will also help greatly in terms of our preparations for the important qualifier against Romania the following weekend,” said Michael O’Neill.
12k seats – how many do Pats get for a typical game? I’m not trolling btw, I honestly don’t know!
@John S: sounds like you are trolling, why do attendances matter? Rovers don’t sell out tallaght yet their building another stand, it’s all to make the league and the facilities better to make people feel more welcomed.
Won’t get anywhere with smart arses like yourself holding the LOI clubs back. Gareth Kelleher was putting his own money in, no grants, no tax payers money, no government funding, yet you’ll still find a way to complain when clubs are trying to improve the league… you can’t win
@Benny Millar: I’m not trolling, why don’t attendances matter? Because Irish Sport is full of white elephants with no atmosphere. Hhow often would they exceed say 5k? Wouldn’t that be a more appropriate size stadium than a 1/2 full stadium with no atmosphere?
@John S: average attendance is 1600 but personally I’d have no problem if they built this and put up giant banners behind the goal ends with ads & took them down if they managed to get back up into larger crowds, I think with decent facility’s & good prices they could attract 3000 a game maybe even more if say a father decided to go to a match and take the kids while the wife shops in the proposed shopping centre under the stadium or ,anyway it would have been a good forward planning idea but the council’s are too short sited , it also could have been a venue for some smaller outdoor concerts , even community events such as football camps for kids & community games , imagine kids in the area getting the chance to play there and aspire to play for st.pats one day in there local stadium