Northern Ireland v Cyprus (12/06/2020)

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

I welcome our visitors, Cyprus, to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park. And I extend a warm welcome to all our supporters this afternoon as well .

The dedication of our away support continues to inspire me. In Larnaca and Pristina, I took the opportunity to talk with fans including some from clubs including Magheraveely in Fermanagh, Donaghadee, Newtownabbey, Spirit of ’82 and Holywood. Given the nature of international travel currently, many of the fans were subject to delays and cancellations. It was good to meet them, to hear their experiences and to appreciate the ingenuity of the onward travel arrangements for those who were taking in both games. With that in mind, I am even more grateful of their support and thankful for their perseverance. I was delighted to join an Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubs (AONISC) meeting before the away games and to speak directly with fans. I must place on record my appreciation for the work of the Amalgamation, who do so much to make sure that travelling supporters have a safe, secure and enjoyable experience. There are no easy games at international level and we have seen that so far in our latest UEFA Nations League campaign. Kosovo were buoyed by a vociferous home support on Thursday and our opponents today certainly gave a good account of themselves in Larnaca last weekend. The quirkiest fact that I have heard in recent days is that it is unusual to play two teams in back-to-back fixtures who have a map of

their country on their national f lag. The last time that we played a team with a map on its f lag will have been when we faced Bosnia and Herzegovina away. Like us, Cyprus are at the tail end of what amounts to a tricky compressed period of football in which there is little time for players to recover. I am encouraged that Shayne Lavery and Daniel Ballard found the net in Pristina. In Kosovo I learned the phrase “Gur gur bëhet mur”. Literally translated it means brick by brick makes the wall thick. It is like the English proverb “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Whilst there have been several absentees from the squad, the Nations League games this month have provided opportunities for other players, and it was encouraging to see players make senior debuts over the last few games. Shea Charles slotted in with ease and impressed me. It was also good to see Glentoran’s Conor McMenamin put in a fine personal performance against Cyprus and Brodie Spencer making his debut , too. Some new bricks are in place. Tonight’s game remains important . Again it should be close to a sell-out , so let’s get behind Ian Baraclough and our team in typical GAWA fashion. CONRAD KIRKWOOD PRESIDENT IRISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIAT ION

IRISHFA.COM

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