Friendly against Italy in June

**geysir** · 16/05/2011, 7:48 PM

At least it's not in Bruges.

**BonnieShels** · 16/05/2011, 8:30 PM

Originally Posted by gspain

Nice good old fashioned football stadium. Close to the pitch and a good atmosphere. Not in the greatest part of town though.

Anybody found a way back to Charleroi airport by public transport in time for the Ryanair flight the following morning? Last trains seems to leave Liege shortly after the final whistle.

Who do we know who's good at sorting out the fans with trains...?

**Irish_Praha** · 17/05/2011, 8:19 AM

Originally Posted by Real ale Madrid

Absolutely delighted with this news - Just 1hr 20 mins away from me here in Belgium, big buzz around the office today when the news officially broke, hopefully a lot of Irish around here will get down. Never been to Liege though. Anyone familiar?

It's onlt about 1.5 hours away from where I live in Germany. Nice city with a going out area in the middle of the city not unlike Temple Bar; lots of narrow streets with hidden bars and restaurants.
Will make for an interesting night out with thousands of Irish fans packed in there. Shame it's on a Tuesday night as I have to work the next day and I have no hope of getting any time off because I have the following two weeks off.

**elroy** · 17/05/2011, 8:28 AM

Can someone explain to me the reason this is on in Belgium? I hear its because the commercial group who have the agency rights for the game but surely attendance at the game would be greater if played in Ireland or Italy?

**Cuyahoga** · 17/05/2011, 9:58 AM

' thousands of irish fans' a few hundred more likely !

**Irish_Praha** · 17/05/2011, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by Cuyahoga

' thousands of irish fans' a few hundred more likely !

With it being a meaningless friendly, very close to an away qualifier, on a Tuesday night and in a relatively unknown city you could be right. I wonder myself a bit about the sense and value of the game.
However it is within a 3 hours drive of a lot of big German/Dutch and of course Belgian cities with relatively large ex-pat communities. So I would expect in the region of 5000 Irish fans or am I being deluded?

**Real ale Madrid** · 17/05/2011, 12:44 PM

There was about 4,500 at the Georgia game in Mainz - 99% of that crowd were Irish, I'd be amazed if there were more Irish than that, at it. Its a bizarre location - no doubt about it.

**gspain** · 17/05/2011, 12:55 PM

I can't see us bringing more than a couple of hundred fans.

I've rented a car now - on the Ryanair flight to Charleroi on the Tuesday morning back wednesday morning.

Anybody want a lift on a cost sharing basis?

**Charlie Darwin** · 17/05/2011, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by Real ale Madrid

There was about 4,500 at the Georgia game in Mainz - 99% of that crowd were Irish, I'd be amazed if there were more Irish than that, at it. Its a bizarre location - no doubt about it.

Belgium probably the best location they could have found outside of the UK and Ireland in terms of proximity to ex-pats and affordability. Not sure about Liege thogh - presumably because it's close to Ryanair? Though I'm still not entirely sure why they restricted themselves to locations outside the two islands.

**ArdeeBhoy** · 18/05/2011, 1:06 AM

Originally Posted by elroy

Can someone explain to me the reason this is on in Belgium? I hear its because the commercial group who have the agency rights for the game but surely attendance at the game would be greater if played in Ireland or Italy?

Hopefully this will explain. All for friendlies, besides the 'glamour' ones at home, being played away from Ireland as they're generally terrible in Dublin.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...7-2648546.html

Can't see more than 500 or so going, but that's not the point.