Northern Ireland v Austria

GOOD AFTERNOON

Welcome to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park for our final senior men’s international of 2019 against Austria.

The newly minted UEFA Nations League has not gone as well as we would have wanted so far, but today we have the chance to finish with a win and complete our mini league on a high. The Nations League has certainly been a close run thing with well fought games against opposition of our own standard, and but for the width of the woodwork we would probably be sitting with points on the board at this moment! Our preparation game in Dublin on Thursday evening was along similar lines to our three Nations League games to date. We created plenty of chances, were comfortable in possession, played some excellent football, but could not find the net. Hopefully we can change that against Austria. As many of you will know we recently announced a joint bid with the FAI to host the 2023 UEFA men’s U21 finals and we are hopeful that we can put a compelling bid together to persuade the UEFA executive committee that between us we will be able to stage a tremendous tournament. The U21 Euros are the second biggest national teams tournament in Europe after the Euros itself and bringing the cream of Europe’s young footballing talent to the island of Ireland will be good for all stakeholders, particularly our supporters who will able to watch many games first hand here in Northern Ireland.

On a similar note we have just made our third bid to bring the UEFA Super Cup Final here to the National Football Stadium, this time the 2021 edition, and we are hopeful of success. The newly developed stadium is a fabulous stage for events like these, and now we have it we can make bids with confidence. All eyes will be on the Convention Centre in Dublin on Sunday 2 December as the draw takes place for the European Qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2020. Who we get to play and where and when we will be travelling are the questions all supporters will need answers to. GAWA members will no doubt have a variety of travel websites open on their phones and computers as the names come out of the hat and all manner of travel plans will be in place by the end of that day! There will be five groups of five teams and five groups of six teams in the mix as there is no overall host nation, with everyone in UEFA needing to qualify for the finals tournament this time. Time for us to #daretodream again! Enjoy the match today.

Patrick Nelson Chief Executive Irish Football Association

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