This article is from page 83 of the 2009-11-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 83 JPG
FLOODING may have postponed the visit of two of the biggest names in Irish soccer to Clare this week but one World Cup hero 1s expected to be in the county on Friday.
Football Association of Ireland (FAT) chief John Delaney along with the Technical Director Packie Bon- ner were due to attend a workshop in Ennis tomorrow to launch Clare’s hosting of the 2011 FAI Annual Gen- eral Meeting.
However in an email last night Clare District Soccer League secre- tary, Oliver Fitzpatrick, stated that the event has been postponed due to bad weather.
The occasion would have marked one of the first public appearances
for Delaney since the FAI’s request to have the controversial World Cup play-off between Ireland and France replayed was knocked back by FIFA.
One man on his way to Clare is Ray Houghton. The hero of Giants stad1- um in 1994 will at the Clare Inn to officially launch the new website of Ennis Town football club.
Houghton will also present players with the club’s new jersey. The man who famously ‘put the ball in the English net’ visited Ennis last year.
“IT just think its great in counties like Clare; so many youngsters are given the opportunity to play soccer, which wouldn’t have been the case quite a few years ago. It’s changed dramatically”, he said at the time.