Northern Ireland v Netherlands

NEVER A DULL MOMENT

AS GAMES APPROACH

What does a typical week or so in the run-up to Northern Ireland fixtures look like for me?.

them all. I reluctantly missed the launch event of the new kit this week, for example, but I did make it along to the Women’s Euro qualifier at Seaview. There are many tasks, too, in the run-up to matches, such as writing the welcome for the 12th Man guides, overseeing what information we’re putting out on our social media platforms, arranging to get tickets to our match guests, making sure that the drums for the Kop are organised and fielding a variety of calls and queries from fans about all manner of things relating to Northern Ireland games. People often ask me if I still enjoy doing what I do. There are always challenging days, however I always see the benefit in trying to help other fans, to make a difference. In Northern Ireland fans I meet many good people who share a passion for our team. That’s what motivates me. Gary McAllister Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubs

Well, staple features during this period include the meeting which takes place with the PSNI and the IFA Security Officer. We also usually schedule in a meeting with the representatives of our member clubs around this time. The date for the meeting can be fixed sometimes months in advance, so there can be no way of knowing what issues might arise in the period between these gatherings. The most recent meeting happened to take place hours after Stoke City made an official approach to the Irish Football Association to request permission to speak to Michael O’Neill. The day then took on a bit of a life of its own. Thankfully our preparation for the Amalgamation meeting had already been done. The previous evening was spent putting together a presentation for a site visit to Frankfurt. I’m very fortunate to have a good group of people serving on our management committee - this certainly stood us in good stead on this occasion. Before the meeting with our clubs I was also scheduled to attend another meeting putting together a football/community project. Immediately after this the annual IFA Service of Remembrance took place at the stadium. I did manage to fulfil all these commitments, but most of that afternoon was spent trying to judge how exactly the O’Neill-Stoke situation would play out while also making a quick visit to the BBC to offer my thoughts on this. There are always numerous things happening during match week, and it’s not possible to get to

FOLLOW US AT @WGMac TheAmalgamation www.aonisc.co.uk

55

www.irishfa.com