Northern Ireland v Switzerland 08SEPT

REFLECTIONS ON A ‘FABULOUS’ SUPER CUP

WORDS : NIGEL TILSON

The Irish Football Association and UEFA staged a “completely fabulous” UEFA Super Cup last month.

ACT ION FROM THE SUPER CUP IN BELFAST. THE GAME BE TWEEN CHELSEA AND VILL ARREAL WAS PL AYED IN FRONT OF 13,000 SUPPORTERS AND WATCHED BY MILL IONS AROUND THE WORLD.

That’s the verdict of Irish FA chief executive Patrick Nelson, who said the event had been delivered “after many years of bid writing, politicking, negotiating, planning and yet more planning”. In a letter to staff at the association, he said: “We were host to UEFA, we enjoyed the company of Chelsea and Villarreal and we were broadcast live to more than 200 countries. “I can tell you that UEFA leaders, including Aleksander Čeferin (UEFA President) , were delighted with all aspects of the match, from the stadium to the organisation to the hospitality to the football , although admittedly we didn’t control the last one!” And he added: “We showed the world the best of the Irish Football Association, the best of Belfast and the best of Northern Ireland.”

The chief executive said the match between the reigning UEFA Champions League holders and the reigning UEFA Europa League champions at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park - which Chelsea won in a dramatic penalty shoot-out – and everything surrounding it had been “completely fabulous”. In the email to staff he added: “I can confidently predict that however long any of us work, whichever companies we work for either in days gone by or in the future, the UEFA Super Cup event will be a shining highlight for all of us. “Well done to everyone. Whether you did a little or a lot you contributed to one of our best days, so thank you.” Irish FA President Conrad Kirkwood told staff the Super Cup was a credit to them all and revealed he had received verbal and written compliments from senior football figures from across Europe.

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NIR V SUI