Cretaro honoured with civic reception
HE’S spent 17 years of his life wearing the red and white jersey of Sligo Rovers, and on Saturday last, Raffaele Cretaro was honoured by both the club and Sligo County Council for his services to the Bit O’Red.
With his testimonial match taking place on Saturday evening, Raff received a civic reception on Saturday afternoon to honour him and his family.
Former team-mates and friends came together to take on the Sligo Rovers team, with Raff choosing Cystic Fibrosis Ireland to benefit from the game.
Afterwards, an emotional Cretaro expressed his gratitude to everyone who took part, turned up to watch, or organised the event.
“There was a tear in my eye (at the end). I took a deep breath and I didn’t want to start crying because if I started crying there would have been no speech to be honest with you,” he said.
“We were getting ready this morning and my wife said to me ‘ this is worse than a wedding’. It was a great experience from getting up in the morning and getting ready for the civic reception to now. And it will go on until later.”