Finn Harps FC

Finn Park will play host to a special visitor on Friday 27th August when the Henri Delaunay Trophy will be on view at the ground. The Henri Delaunay Trophy is awarded to the European Football Champions, with Spain the current holders having won the Euro 2008 Tournament two years ago.

The trophy will be on display before and during the FAI Ford Cup fixture between Finn Harps and Sligo Rovers at Finn Park on 27th August. An opportunity to have your photograph taken with the trophy will be available.

The Henri Delaunay Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the European Football Championship, is named in honour of Henri Delaunay, the first General Secretary of UEFA, who came up with the idea of a European championship but died five years prior to the first tournament in 1960. His son Pierre Delaunay was in charge of making the trophy. Since the first tournament it has been awarded to the winning team for them to keep for four years, until the next tournament.

Spain's Iker Casillas had the pleasure of becoming the first captain to lift the updated version of the Henri Delaunay Cup in June 2008, with the new trophy a fitting replacement for the prize that has been synonymous with the UEFA European Championship.

The second version of the trophy is based on the original designed by Arthus-Bertrand in 1960 and named after Henri Delaunay, the former president of the French Football Federation. It is 18cm higher and 2kg heavier than the original, made of sterling silver, and has retained its historical name. The trophy was reincarnated to reflect the scale and size of Europe's most prestigious international tournament.

The responsibility for creating the original went to Pierre Delaunay, son of Henri, the visionary behind the competition. Henri Delaunay died in 1955 before seeing his idea come to fruition, but the updated prize is testament to his enduring legacy, maintaining its classic style. Minor differences between the original and updated version include the silver base being enlarged to make it stable. In addition, the names of the winning countries that had appeared on the plinth have been engraved on the back of the trophy, which weighs 8kg and is 60cm tall.

Unlike the original, which was the work of the Chobillon goldsmith and was later bought by Arthus-Bertrand in Paris, the making of the modern equivalent was entrusted to Asprey London. Asprey, renowned silversmiths, jewellers and goldsmiths, have a long history of trophy-making stretching back to the America's Cup, which their sister company Garrard produced in 1848. UEFA wanted to improve on the quality but also the scale of the trophy, and have a focal point for the event – it was felt that the original trophy was too small to do this.

The Republic of Ireland will be hoping to get their hands on the trophy when Euro 2012 takes place in Poland and Ukraine in two years time. Ireland get their qualifying campaign underway for the tournament next month.