Aviva’s all ready and waiting..
AVIVA STADIUM director Martin Murphy says the venue is ready to host behind-closed-doors matches.
Stephen Kenny’s first home game as Republic of Ireland boss is scheduled for September 6 against Finland in the Nations League.
FIFA and UEFA are still mapping out the international schedule for the autumn in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
And all September games could yet be put back by a month or two. As it stands, the clash with the Finns will be played behindclosed-doors.
A four-team club tournament in late July involving the League of Ireland teams in European competition has also been discussed with the FAI.
The Dublin 4 venue is likely to host Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Derry City and Bohemians in round-robin format over a 10-day period.
“We’re ready to start playing matches behindclosed-doors as soon as approval is given,” Murphy told Virgin Media News.
“The arrangements are all in place and we have consulted widely.
“Our arrangements are based on what people are planning to do in the Bundesliga and in the Premier League in the UK.
“For the past number of weeks we have been working closely with the IRFU and the FAI to create protocols for playing matches behind-closeddoors, subject to Government approval. Detailed plans have been drawn up and everything that is required to create a sterile environment for the players and match officials has been taken into consideration.”
ALAN KEANE admits memories of the 2013 celebrations are still a little hazy.
Overall, though, those big occasions showed him what football meant to the people of Sligo.
He quipped: “I can’t quite remember 2013, we were all so drunk!
“But 2010 in particular was unbelievable. We left Dublin at 12 on the Monday morning, and didn’t get to Sligo until half-nine at night.
“Once we hit Carrickon-shannon and on into Boyle there were fires everywhere, people out on the roads, and we stopped off at a good few villages