TC/1358

Ticket priority for bomb fund glamour games will go to local people

MIGHTY Manchester United are to display their record breaking season's silverware when they play an Omagh Town Select in aid of the Omagh Fund on Tuesday, August 3, at St. Julian's Road.
The Old Trafford giants are just one of three Premiership teams to have firmed up arrangements to play Town for the charity at the start of next season. The others are Chelsea and Liverpool
And the local club has promised to take vital steps to ensure the community devastated by last August's town centre bombing will 'get first crack at the tickets'. Capacity gates for each of the three glamour friendlies, expected to generate gate receipts of £250,000, will be 7,300.
Speaking at a Press conference at the Silverbirch Hotel on Tuesday evening, Town secretary, Pat McGlinchey, said: "We will be very happy to take ticket orders, and prioritise them for the Omagh area.
"Local people will take priority over supporters clubs for instance, and only when local applications have been exhausted will we release tickets to the wider public."
But we need to get an immediate feel for ticket demand. People can apply now, and collect and pay for their tickets four weeks before the game of their choice. There will be no credit card sales. "A month should be sufficient to enable interested locals to obtain tickets before we go nationwide. We will give them every opportunity, but all enquiries to date have been from outside the Omagh area, and my experience has been that locals are inclined to sit back and take things for granted. Perhaps, they need to be pushed."
Town boss, Roy McCreadie, echoed those sentiments: "These matches are for the Omagh people, and we will have to take steps to make sure they get first crack at the tickets. The club has been absolutely inundated with requests already.
"Everybody wants to see Manchester United, and we may have to arrange that those who buy a ticket for the Chelsea game will be guaranteed the same ticket for the United match.
"Regarding the Chelsea game, I have been in touch with Jurgen Klinsman, inviting him to guest for Omagh."
Otherwise, McCreadie confirmed, he intends fielding sides comprising current and past Town players such as Michael McHugh, Tom Mohan, Eamonn Kavanagh, and Liam Coyle.
Later, following a board meeting at the club, McCreadie said it was now 99.9 per cent certain the Chelsea and United ticket allocations would be linked.
Opening the Press conference, Mr. McGlinchey had said: "We're delighted three high-profile clubs are willing to come to Omagh to play, and we are grateful all have said they will send virtually their full squads to give the Omagh Fund due credence.
"Roy McCreadie has worked unceasingly since September to get something off the ground. He was in touch with a dozen Premiership clubs in England and Scotland, and it has now been narrowed down to these three, and what a trio.
"What remains now is a couple of months of really hard work, solid toil; to put in over 4,000 extra seats, and make the many hundreds of other arrangements necessary. These matches will not happen without it.
Challenge
"But we are looking forward to the challenge. When Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea promise you that they are coming to town, then we, as a club, will pull out all the stops to make it happen, and to make it happen as professionally as we can."
In fact, Berkshire firm, Arena Seating, will install 4,200 temporary seats, while 2,800 ground tickets are also to go on sale for each fixture. The current stand, which accommodates 300, is to be used for guests and others affected by the bombing.
A special batch of tickets for the games will be retailed at a selected outlet in Buncrana, Co Donegal, fatally hit by the Omagh bombing, and it is understood match stewarding will be in the hands of the experienced 200-strong crew, which mans Windsor Park for Northern Ireland internationals
All admissions will be by ticket only, with the Chelsea clash opening the series on Wednesday, July 28, and the Anfield Reds playing on either Monday or Tuesday, September 13 or 14.
United are the only club to have indicated they will stay overnight, and thus there remains a slight possibility their match could be put back 24 hours.
McCreadie, said it was tremendous that clubs of their stature should put Town first when making their pre-season arrangements.
Thrilled
"I am absolutely thrilled to have these three teams on board. I would say I have had to make a 1,000 telephone calls, and issue two or three hundred faxes to get them here, apart from working to keep people's spirits up locally that they would come to Omagh," he continued.
"United are going to Australia for a couple of weeks pre-season, and are then coming to us from Wembley, after playing in the Charity Shield on Sunday, August 1.
"Chelsea are returning from a training camp in Italy to fulfil their commitment, and Liverpool, with their own well-documented tragedies, were more than delighted to come," he added.
"We have had our doubters, but we have the dates now. A lot of people have been sceptical that these matches would ever happen, but I was always confident, after speaking to the top brass at the three clubs, Peter Robinson (Liverpool), Martin Edwards (United) and Colin Hutchinson (Chelsea), that they would definitely go ahead.
"Chelsea will fly in on the day of the match and fly out after it, but United will stay locally overnight, and have promised they will bring with them, and parade, all the silverware they have won this season.
"They play us on Tuesday 3, and their Premiership season starts on Saturday August 7, so Town will be their last opponents before they begin the defence of their title."
Meeting the stringent requirements imposed by the Health and Safety inspectorate, the DoE and the RUC for the games would be a substantial undertaking for Omagh Town, according to McCreadie.
He went on: "We will need support and help from everybody, and we will all have to pull together. The amount of money it will cost to stage these three games' is massive, but all proceeds, after deducting expenses and administrative costs, will go to the Omagh Fund."
McCreadie said the club was in contact with PR agencies with a view to maximising sponsorship revenue and cut back on the promotional costs.
"We want to try and source the right sponsorship to bring these teams over, to pick up the tab for all the expenses that will have to be laid out.
"Local businesses have suffered enough, and if we can, at all, get some of the major companies to come in and sponsor these games, we will be more than delighted that the local community can just come and enjoy the football," he explained.
Looking forward to the games, the Town chief said: "Chelsea have said they will bring a nearly full strength team, United have said they will bring their strongest possible team, and Liverpool have assured us they will definitely bring their entire first team squad."
Welcoming the announcements, Mrs. Dervla Johnston, of the Omagh Fund, thanked Town officials for undertaking what she called a mammoth task.
"Speaking for the trustees and everyone affected by the bomb, I give you my thanks. I know the financial support will be very gratefully appreciated, but also how you are going to lift spirits in the town.
"When you see so many young people who have been injured by the bomb, and how many of them are supporters [of these teams], and how these matches and these players will lift their spirits so much, it is fantastic."
McCreadie said it was now unlikely that Glasgow Celtic would play in Omagh, after the recent visit of players and officials to the town, and the twin donations made at the time to the Omagh Fund and Town's youth in the community scheme. However, he revealed that derby rivals, Rangers, were still seeking a suitable date.
Ticket arrangements: cost, all ground tickets (terracing) for all matches, £10; stand (seating) tickets, £15 (Manchester United), £12 (Chelsea and Liverpool), no concessions. No more than four tickets will be issued on foot of any application.