Northern Ireland v Israel

GOOD EVENING

Welcome to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park once again. Two home games in four days is very unusual at international level.

Mind you, it’s good to be able to quickly get back on the horse after Saturday’s UEFA Nations League opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Not often will we ever dominate a game so much and have nothing to show for it when the final whistle blows. The Northern Ireland team performance on Saturday was as good as anyone can remember and yet the visitors disappeared back to Sarajevo with the points. Such is life in sport sometimes... However, the sun came up this morning again on another new day, and we welcome Israel to Belfast this evening for an international friendly match. For the past few years friendlies have been optional for national teams but now we have all agreed with UEFA that we will play friendly games on all available international dates when there is no competitive fixture. Being in a three team group in UEFA Nations League B has meant that we had two friendly dates available between now and the end of the year, so Israel will visit us this evening and we will make the short trip to Dublin in November to warm up for our final Nations League fixture against Austria. I know it doesn’t seem like it yet as we begin to search in the wardrobe for our warmer clothes but it is only 15 weeks today until Christmas. If

you haven’t got your work Christmas party sorted yet then look no further. We are on Facebook under ‘NFS at Windsor Park Events’ and we will be delighted to make your party one to remember. I have mentioned our Education and Heritage Centre before but make no apology in doing so again. We are now up to #3 on ‘things to do in Belfast’ according to TripAdvisor, which is some achievement. For the Bosnia game we ran a very successful ‘Legends’ event where almost 100 guests were entertained by the great Tommy Wright, so look out for similar future events. And if you’re a campaign card holder you can now get a free visit to the centre courtesy of the Galgorm Resort and Spa, one of our newest business partners. So don’t miss out! Finally, thank you for coming to the stadium again this evening and being part of the GAWA. Everyone in the squad values the fantastic atmosphere created here at home and let’s hope we get back to winning ways against Israel.

Enjoy the match! Patrick Nelson Chief Executive Irish Football Association

7

www.irishfa.com