TOWN TO HOST CHARITY FIXTURE THEMSELVES
Town to host charity fixture themselves
BY: BARRY O'DONNELL
St Enda's told that use of their facilities will not be sought
OMAGH Town Football Club decided to go it alone this week when it is announced that it is to stage a prestigious soccer charity match at its own St.Julian's Road ground.
Club secretary Pat McGlinchey revealed yesterday (Wed) that three British soccer giants, Manchester United, Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers, had all contacted the club in recent days confirming that they would send a team to Omagh before the end of the season to play a match at Town's ground.
The choice of venue for this glamour soccer friendly in aid of the families of the bomb victims, has sparked of an ugly and distasteful row in recent weeks.
The unsavoury dispute was prompted when Omagh St.Enda's 18,000 capacity GAA ground at Healy Park was mooted as a possible location.
This option was ruled out by the Association's top brass at Croke Park who were subsequently lambasted from various quarters for their intransigence and insensitivity by sticking rigidly to the rules regarding the playing of 'foreign' games on sports fields under its control.
Similarly elements within the national press and leading politicians were also slammed for hijacking the Omagh atrocity to further their own personal crusade against the Association by attempting to back it into a corner over this issue.
Local figures within both Omagh St.Enda's and Omagh Town have been annoyed that they had become almost peripheral figures within the context of the whole debate, and felt that the overriding wishes and concerns of the people most directly affected by the bombing had been overlooked.
Mr McGlinchey this week sent a correspondence to the local GAA club in which he thanked them for their cooperation but stated that the senior soccer club would now play host itself to the prestigious friendly.
His statement read "Omagh Town have formally thanked the local St.Enda's GFC for their offer to ask their members to endorse a challenge to GAA rules by allowing use of Healy Park for such a match, but have informed the St.Enda's club that Omagh Town do not intend requesting the use of Healy Park, as it is the wish and intention of Omagh Town to stage the match or matches at St.Julian's Road."
He continued "It is the wish of Omagh Town that press speculation and discussion on the matter should now cease, as it is demeaning to the cause to which their project is dedicated."
St.Enda's had been due to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday to discuss their response to the whole episode. Many of its members were known beforehand to favour defying Croke Park's ruling and putting forward an application for a change of use of their grounds for the one-off soccer match.
The club's general secretary, Tom Flanagan, said that once the local soccer club had been clear its stance, St.Enda's officials scraped their planned discussion on the issue.
"We felt it would be futile to continue debating the matter and so instead we focused on initiatives and schemes which we plan to host ourselves to raise funds."
BY: BARRY O'DONNELL
St Enda's told that use of their facilities will not be sought
OMAGH Town Football Club decided to go it alone this week when it is announced that it is to stage a prestigious soccer charity match at its own St.Julian's Road ground.
Club secretary Pat McGlinchey revealed yesterday (Wed) that three British soccer giants, Manchester United, Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers, had all contacted the club in recent days confirming that they would send a team to Omagh before the end of the season to play a match at Town's ground.
The choice of venue for this glamour soccer friendly in aid of the families of the bomb victims, has sparked of an ugly and distasteful row in recent weeks.
The unsavoury dispute was prompted when Omagh St.Enda's 18,000 capacity GAA ground at Healy Park was mooted as a possible location.
This option was ruled out by the Association's top brass at Croke Park who were subsequently lambasted from various quarters for their intransigence and insensitivity by sticking rigidly to the rules regarding the playing of 'foreign' games on sports fields under its control.
Similarly elements within the national press and leading politicians were also slammed for hijacking the Omagh atrocity to further their own personal crusade against the Association by attempting to back it into a corner over this issue.
Local figures within both Omagh St.Enda's and Omagh Town have been annoyed that they had become almost peripheral figures within the context of the whole debate, and felt that the overriding wishes and concerns of the people most directly affected by the bombing had been overlooked.
Mr McGlinchey this week sent a correspondence to the local GAA club in which he thanked them for their cooperation but stated that the senior soccer club would now play host itself to the prestigious friendly.
His statement read "Omagh Town have formally thanked the local St.Enda's GFC for their offer to ask their members to endorse a challenge to GAA rules by allowing use of Healy Park for such a match, but have informed the St.Enda's club that Omagh Town do not intend requesting the use of Healy Park, as it is the wish and intention of Omagh Town to stage the match or matches at St.Julian's Road."
He continued "It is the wish of Omagh Town that press speculation and discussion on the matter should now cease, as it is demeaning to the cause to which their project is dedicated."
St.Enda's had been due to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday to discuss their response to the whole episode. Many of its members were known beforehand to favour defying Croke Park's ruling and putting forward an application for a change of use of their grounds for the one-off soccer match.
The club's general secretary, Tom Flanagan, said that once the local soccer club had been clear its stance, St.Enda's officials scraped their planned discussion on the issue.
"We felt it would be futile to continue debating the matter and so instead we focused on initiatives and schemes which we plan to host ourselves to raise funds."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1163
Published Date: 01-Oct-98
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