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Cliftonville friendly on Saturday 17 July 2010

FC United have been invited to play a friendly at Cliftonville FC on Saturday 17 July 2010 with kick-off at 3pm.

Cliftonville are a fans-owned club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and play in the IFA Premiership League, where they are currently mid-table.

Cliftonville is the oldest football club in Ireland, having been formed in 1879, which means they are celebrating their 130th anniversary this year. The game will be played at their Solitude ground, which has been Cliftonville’s home since 1890. It is anticipated that Cliftonville will be organising social events around the game, probably on both the Friday and Saturday evenings.

Cliftonville have managed to secure sponsorship from Ladbrokes for this friendly between our two fans clubs. This enables them to fund the arrangements for the game, including the FC United team’s travel and accommodation. The winners of the match will be awarded the inaugural Ladbrokes Supporters’ Cup.

Cliftonville Chairman Gerard Lawlor was delighted to finalise arrangements for the fixture and looks forward to welcoming FC United to Belfast. He said: "We know all too well about the importance of a strong bond between the club committee, players and supporters. It’s the foundation upon which Cliftonville is built and we’re proud to be a fans-owned club, with people working voluntarily on a daily basis for the betterment of us all.

"The story of FC United is one which all football fans have followed and one which we at Cliftonville watched closely because of how similarly we operate. It’s wonderful that both of our clubs have come together to compete for the Ladbrokes Supporters’ Cup and I, like everyone at Solitude, am looking forward to not only the match but the entire occasion and the development of a relationship between our two clubs."

FC United General Manager, Andy Walsh said: "We’re delighted to accept Cliftonville’s invitation. We always enjoy the adventure of playing a Euro away and it’s an honour to play a friendly against a fellow fans-owned club. We’re looking forward to challenging ourselves against an Irish Premier League team."

Further details will be announced later.



First Posted ~ 16:59 Mon 30 Nov 2009
News ID ~ 2578
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021