TOWN PLAN TO STAGE GLAMOUR FRIENDLY AT ST. JULIAN'S ROAD
Town plan to stage glamour friendly at St. Julian's Road
OMAGH Town on Tuesday evening issued a statement following a short meeting at St. Julian's Road, which should diffuse the GAA wrangle over the staging of a proposed glamour friendly in support of the Omagh Memorial Fund.
The local St. Enda's club had indicated it would not refuse an application from Town to stage the game at its 22,000 capacity Healy Park, but there have been ominous rumblings that the decision would be taken over its head, and the approach refused.
On Tuesday, Town's vice-chairman, Mr. John Hunter, slammed reports that the local club was bidding to stage the game at Healy Park as pure press speculation.
Speaking after the scoreless draw with Crusaders, he said: "At no stage has anyone contacted Omagh Town FC to ascertain the club's views in relation to this issue.
"I can confirm that it was never our intention to play any such friendly at any ground other than St. Julian's Road. We certainly had never considered approaching the GAA at any level to use its facilities.
"We understand that, according to the constitution of that association, soccer is a foreign game, and cannot be played at any of its facilities. We would not seek to cause any embarrassment or disharmony by asking for amenities that are so obviously unavailable.
"I would also wish to point out that our own stadium is up to European standards and is UEFA approved, as is evidenced by our hosting FC Tauris in the Inter-Toto Cup here in June.
"We look forward to hosting some major cross channel team or teams at St. Julian's Road in the future.
Manager, Roy McCreadie, said he would be happy to entertain any side, be it Celtic, Liverpool, Manchester United or Rangers.
OMAGH Town on Tuesday evening issued a statement following a short meeting at St. Julian's Road, which should diffuse the GAA wrangle over the staging of a proposed glamour friendly in support of the Omagh Memorial Fund.
The local St. Enda's club had indicated it would not refuse an application from Town to stage the game at its 22,000 capacity Healy Park, but there have been ominous rumblings that the decision would be taken over its head, and the approach refused.
On Tuesday, Town's vice-chairman, Mr. John Hunter, slammed reports that the local club was bidding to stage the game at Healy Park as pure press speculation.
Speaking after the scoreless draw with Crusaders, he said: "At no stage has anyone contacted Omagh Town FC to ascertain the club's views in relation to this issue.
"I can confirm that it was never our intention to play any such friendly at any ground other than St. Julian's Road. We certainly had never considered approaching the GAA at any level to use its facilities.
"We understand that, according to the constitution of that association, soccer is a foreign game, and cannot be played at any of its facilities. We would not seek to cause any embarrassment or disharmony by asking for amenities that are so obviously unavailable.
"I would also wish to point out that our own stadium is up to European standards and is UEFA approved, as is evidenced by our hosting FC Tauris in the Inter-Toto Cup here in June.
"We look forward to hosting some major cross channel team or teams at St. Julian's Road in the future.
Manager, Roy McCreadie, said he would be happy to entertain any side, be it Celtic, Liverpool, Manchester United or Rangers.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0521
Published Date: 03-Sep-98
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