OMAGH ENDEAVOUR EARNS ITS REWARD
Omagh endeavour earns its reward
By Orla Bannon
MONTHS of planning and waiting will be over at 7.15 this evening when trendy London club Chelsea become the first of three illustrious visitors to St Julian's Road.
When talk first came round of Omagh Town's ambitious attempts to bring Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool to the town in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing, locals greeted the news with excitement and scepticism in equal measure.
The GAA's subsequent refusal to allow the games to take place on their property left the Irish League side with no option. Ground improvements had to be made, and fast, to satisfy Omagh District Council and Health and Safety officials.
The idea was glamourous, even if the weeks and months of hard graft which were to follow were not.
Yet tonight the club officials' dreams will be realised, their labours rewarded, when Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola and Marcel Desailly stride out onto the pitch at St Julian's Road.
There is a lot riding on the hope that this game runs smoothly.
Depending on how things go this evening, an extra 700 seats could be installed for next Tuesday's visit of European Cup champions Manchester United.
Health and safety officials will be scrutinising how the 7,000 spectators file in and out of the little ground to assess the possibility of cramming a few more people in for further games.
"Providing everything goes smoothly, we can get an extra 700 seats in for the United game," said Omagh manager Roy McCreadie.
"It's only provisional at the minute, but it would be great to allow a few more fans in next time."
One disappointment so far, though, is that the game is not a sell-out.
Unlike next week's game against the Treble winners, there are still a few hundred terrace tickets available for the Chelsea match which can be purchased today between 2pm-7pm at the ticket kiosk at the bottom of St Julian's Road.
Chelsea will train in Bangor this morning before making their way down to Omagh by coach for the match. They will return immediately after the game to their hotel in Belfast.
Crews were putting the finishing touches to the game yesterday with all the ground improvements now in place.
"People can't believe the place is looking so well," said McCreadie. "People keep driving out to have a look at all the work that's been done and it's fantastic that all our hard work has come to fruition."
McCreadie confirmed the temporary seating erected for the Chelsea and Manchester United games will stay in place until Liverpool arrive on October 18.
Omagh Town will be brought back to earth on August 14, the day before the first anniversary of the bombing atrocity, when they kick off the new season at Carrick Rangers.
Their first home game in the first division will be a week later against Dungannon Swifts.
All those extra seats will still be there, and McCreadie is hoping to fill some of them.
"Many people from the town will be visiting the ground for the first time for these matches and hopefully now they've been once, they might come back and support us this season."
Former Omagh players Michael McHugh (Derry City) and Tom Mohan (Finn Harps) will guest for their old club tonight, as will Eamon Kavanagh, Stuart Gauld and Cliftonville's Brian Donaghy. McCreadie is hoping to resign the trio before the season starts.
By Orla Bannon
MONTHS of planning and waiting will be over at 7.15 this evening when trendy London club Chelsea become the first of three illustrious visitors to St Julian's Road.
When talk first came round of Omagh Town's ambitious attempts to bring Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool to the town in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing, locals greeted the news with excitement and scepticism in equal measure.
The GAA's subsequent refusal to allow the games to take place on their property left the Irish League side with no option. Ground improvements had to be made, and fast, to satisfy Omagh District Council and Health and Safety officials.
The idea was glamourous, even if the weeks and months of hard graft which were to follow were not.
Yet tonight the club officials' dreams will be realised, their labours rewarded, when Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola and Marcel Desailly stride out onto the pitch at St Julian's Road.
There is a lot riding on the hope that this game runs smoothly.
Depending on how things go this evening, an extra 700 seats could be installed for next Tuesday's visit of European Cup champions Manchester United.
Health and safety officials will be scrutinising how the 7,000 spectators file in and out of the little ground to assess the possibility of cramming a few more people in for further games.
"Providing everything goes smoothly, we can get an extra 700 seats in for the United game," said Omagh manager Roy McCreadie.
"It's only provisional at the minute, but it would be great to allow a few more fans in next time."
One disappointment so far, though, is that the game is not a sell-out.
Unlike next week's game against the Treble winners, there are still a few hundred terrace tickets available for the Chelsea match which can be purchased today between 2pm-7pm at the ticket kiosk at the bottom of St Julian's Road.
Chelsea will train in Bangor this morning before making their way down to Omagh by coach for the match. They will return immediately after the game to their hotel in Belfast.
Crews were putting the finishing touches to the game yesterday with all the ground improvements now in place.
"People can't believe the place is looking so well," said McCreadie. "People keep driving out to have a look at all the work that's been done and it's fantastic that all our hard work has come to fruition."
McCreadie confirmed the temporary seating erected for the Chelsea and Manchester United games will stay in place until Liverpool arrive on October 18.
Omagh Town will be brought back to earth on August 14, the day before the first anniversary of the bombing atrocity, when they kick off the new season at Carrick Rangers.
Their first home game in the first division will be a week later against Dungannon Swifts.
All those extra seats will still be there, and McCreadie is hoping to fill some of them.
"Many people from the town will be visiting the ground for the first time for these matches and hopefully now they've been once, they might come back and support us this season."
Former Omagh players Michael McHugh (Derry City) and Tom Mohan (Finn Harps) will guest for their old club tonight, as will Eamon Kavanagh, Stuart Gauld and Cliftonville's Brian Donaghy. McCreadie is hoping to resign the trio before the season starts.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0289
Published Date: 28-Jul-99
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