Irish supporters to honour Doyle
FORMER Republic of Ireland star Kevin Doyle is to be honoured by the Wexford Republic of Ireland Soccer Supporters Club ( WEXRISSC) at what will be a big bash to celebrate their 5th anniversary, on March 1.
Born out of a conversation between Robert Graham, Colm Graham, Martin O’Connor, Stephen Earle and John Murphy in The Crosses Pub in Kilmuckridge, the club started from humble beginnings and has now grown to over 75 members. They run a bus to every Irish home game in the Aviva and they frequently take off on jaunts around Europe to away games as well, enjoying great craic along the way, even if in recent times the results haven’t been too much to cheer about!
The club’s 5th anniversary celebrations will take place in The Bailey in Enniscorthy on March 1 and will include a Q&A with Kevin Doyle who will also be honoured by the Wexford supporters for his fantastic contribution to Irish soccer.
‘Basically, we decided the best thing to do to mark five years was to have a bit of a knees-up,’ said Chairman Patrick Hegarty. ‘Rather than just getting the usual suspects together for a few drinks, we decided to do something a bit bigger and to get the people in Wexford involved.’
All funds raised on the night will go directly to both the John Giles Foundation and the Irish Society for Crohns and Colitis.
‘ The reason for those charities was, initially we had hoped John would be able to come down on the night, but he had other commitments,’ Patrick explained. ‘It’s still a great cause though, so we decided to go ahead. The other cause was chosen because one of our members, Alex Robinson, suffers from Crohns and he’s actually going in for an operation this week. We wanted to do a bit to help and so far the response has been unreal. Local businesses have been really supportive and have really rowed in behind it.’
It promises to be a fascinating night as Will O’Callaghan of Off the Ball interviews Kevin on his glory days in the Premier League with Reading and Wolves, as well as his finest moments in a green shirt.
‘We were delighted to get Kevin involved,’ said Patrick. ‘He’s a Wexford-man and he’s achieved a hell of a lot in the game.’
‘We got in touch with him through Pat Dolan and he was delighted to come on board and we’re looking forward to making a special presentation to him on the night on behalf of the people of Wexford.’
On the night there will also be music from Catalpa who are the official supporters clubs band.
Tickets are priced at €20 and can be purchased from Patrick (0879061857), Robbie (0874127118) or Rob (0861428585) or by emailing wexrissc@gmail.com.