I think it'll definitely sell out. There is such a ridiculous cult around Keane that he could (in the words of Valdano) bring a piece of **** on a stick to Ireland and 10,000 would gladly pay to watch him wave it about.
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If we stay up, Limerick could be up against Slaven Bilic's Sunderland side or if we go down it could be Steve McClaren's Sunderland side. Such a contrast!
Either way most of our Irish fan base have remembered that it's not Sunderland they support but it was Ipswich all along.
They just forgot about it for the last two and half years.
Glebe North v Glenavon. You can keep your Leeds and Celtic!!
The usual round of friendlies.I think by next season most premier division clubs will have played Ipswich,Leeds,Sunderland,Millwall.I know we(Galway Utd) have played all of those bar Millwall in recent seasons.With a Galway native in goal for them i wouldnt be surprised if they are in Terryland this summer.
I dont go to those games though.Now if Barca came i WOULD.Didnt they play Derry a few years ago?
Theres rumours of Burnley heading on a pre-season tour of Ireland
I'm glad people are actually copping on now what I've been saying all along, the interest in Sunderland was purely down to Roy Keane. Many LOI fans tried to make it out like tons of people are going around wearing Sunderland jerseys and claiming to support them. That was never the case. Roy Keane is the biggest personality in this country bar none. A lot of people are interested in Roy Keane more than they are any club and most of them wish success for Keane (and therefore the club he is at).
These ridiculous cults exist all over the world. You haven't seen what the Japanese think of Nakamura. :) LA Galaxy would probably sell out any stadium in England for a friendly with Beckham in the team.
Shops were selling loads of Sunderland jerseys, so people must have been buying them. You'd see them every now and again around town. Maybe I just noticed them more because every time I though for a split second that I'd found another Irish Stoke supporter!
Any proof of this? I spent 6 months working in paddy power shops from Amien street to Finglas. Most shops on Dublin's north side. And I never saw an Irish Sunderland supporter. I'm absolutely positive that if I did meet an Irish Sunderland supporter he didn't just start supporting them when Keane took over. (maybe it was different outside of Dublin but I doubt it).
People have to realise that supporting Roy Keane will obviously mean you wish him success. Wishing Keane success means you're wishing Ipswich success. It doesn't make them a fan and they don't claim to be.
I agree dcfcsteve. There was a lot of hype around Sunderland's tour 2 years ago. With the Quinn and Keane factor and getting promoted and the fact that 3-4,000 mackems travelled over for the games. But the second tour was different. The hype died down. Only 1,500 travelled over for the Cobh game which didn't sell-out and another 1,500 travelled over the Rovers game and tickets were on sell the day of the match. In contrast to the 3-4,000 fans who the Algrave for the games with Sporting and Victoria Setubol.
I can't imagine 1,500 Ispwich fans traveling over to Ireland. Maybe 200-300 max. Plus people are starting to see Keane not as marvel genius but a nut case with a stupid beard.
The game between Rovers and Sunderland will take place. Just looking for a date.
You obviously werent in Cork. The place was covered in brand new Sunderland jerseys....
Ipswich are irrelevant in all this. People will come out, again, to see Keane and it'l be their first chance to support their 'new' team.
If you think Keane only adds 1/2 thousand to a gate in cork you're delusional.
I wouldn't be certain it will sell out(it'l depend on ticket price) but it'l be more than 5000 anyway, and thats with a lot of City fans staying away....
5000x20= money we could badly do with...
IPSWICH TOWN AND ROY KEANE HEADING TO FINN PARK
Finn Harps Football Club are pleased to announce that they will play a ‘friendly’ fixture against Roy Keane’s Ipswich Town at Finn Park, Ballybofey on Tuesday 7th July with an 8.00pm kick-off.
Harps Chairman Derek Wilkinson said that he was delighted that the ‘Tractor Boys’ were coming to Finn Park. “I am absolutely thrilled we have secured this fixture”, commented Wilkinson. “Ipswich are a high profile team and in Roy Keane they have one of the most high-profile young Managers in the game across the water. We are delighted that Roy Keane has agreed to bring his team to Donegal and I extend thanks to Roy and everyone at Ipswich Town for making this happen.”
The Ipswich Town boss is no stranger to football fans on this Island, or indeed throughout the rest of the World. Keane had a distinguished career as a player with Nottingham Forest, Manchester United & Celtic and won 66 caps for Ireland. As a player with Manchester United, Keane won 7 Premiership titles, 4 FA Cups, 4 FA Community Shields, 1 Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. During a brief spell with Celtic in 2006, he added a Scottish Premier League winners medal and a Scottish League Cup winners medal.
After retiring from football, Keane moved into management almost immediately with Sunderland and led the ‘black-cats’ to the Football League Championship in his first season. He kept Sunderland in the Premiership in their first season up, before resigning in 2008 in his third season at the helm. He returned to management with just two games left of the 2008-09 season with Ipswich Town and saw his new team record victories in both his games in charge.
Details of ticket sales for the game will be announced in the coming days.
HA!
The same Roy keane who kicked up such a stink in a certain far flung corner of Asia about the state of training facilities is going to play a full match on the quarry that is Finn Park. Good man Roy.
I'd say there'll be plenty of interest amongst the agriculturally-minded in this one, the tractor boys and the sheep, er... fanciers ...
Hope it goes well for Harps though, by all accounts they need the monies quite badly, would hate to see them go under.