Northern Ireland v Germany, Thurs 5th October

GOOD EVENING

Welcome to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park for the final home game in the ‘regular season’ of European qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Our German opponents tonight bring with them a formidable array of facts and data; current world champions, number one in the FIFA rankings, and eight wins from eight so far in this campaign. It’s a highly anticipated top two clash in Group C, and even with their perfect record so far Die Mannschaft have not yet qualified for the finals given that Northern Ireland have been nipping at their heels throughout the qualifiers. These are the sort of nights we hoped for when we embarked on the stadium rebuilding project and tonight there will again be a full house of noise and colour as the Green and White Army will Michael’s team on to yet another positive result. Our supporters have been nothing short of spectacular throughout this whole campaign, home and away. More than ever the team need that vital backing tonight and I have no doubt it will be delivered at 11 out of 10 on the volume dial for the full 90 minutes. Yes, it’s more likely that we will be in the play- offs by the time the dust settles on this period of international football next Tuesday night, but it is incredible to think that the only goals we have conceded in this entire campaign to date were in Hannover last October, and that no defence has been meaner in the tournament. In football there is always that mix of looking back at past achievements and dreaming of those achievements which might be delivered in future.

In that vein tonight we bring to mind our friend and colleague at the Irish Football Association, Ian Stewart, who made his home debut against (West) Germany almost 35 years ago, and scored the only goal of the game that night. Although he’s no longer on the wing, Ian is still a major contributor to the Association in his role as Grassroots Development Manager, helping people throughout the country enjoy football day and daily. Looking to the future, as Ian always does, we were delighted to launch our first Elite Performance School partnership last week. Integrated College Dungannon and the Association will now be working together on the coaching and academic sides of development for our first cohort of boys joining the school - and this is a major step forward. Jim Magilton and his Club NI coaching team will look after the football side, and principal Andrew Sleeth and his team will manage educational and pastoral development for the boys. The hope is we will nurture some of Northern Ireland’s international players of the future, but for now let’s enjoy the amazing endeavours of our current squad.

Enjoy the game! Patrick Nelson Chief Executive Irish Football Association

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