IFA Programme 2016

GOOD EVENING

Welcome to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park for our first home game in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers. Our opponents this evening are San Marino and we hope they enjoy their time in Belfast.

Tonight is a very special occasion for the Irish Football Association, coming just over nine months into a very special year. No-one will ever forget the exploits of our players, supporters and indeed everyone involved with Northern Ireland at UEFA Euro 2016, however as we look forward to the prospect of qualifying for our first FIFA World Cup in 32 years we are also able to formally open the National Football Stadium tonight. After many years of negotiating and planning, the first workers moved into Windsor Park just after the Irish Cup Final in 2014 and just 29 months later we have a stadium which is virtually unrecognisable from the previous incarnation. Over 18,500 seats, four hospitality lounges named after the biggest legends of our game, 10 private hospitality boxes and most of all a top quality playing surface have been put in place during this time. The seats themselves were originally designed for the Allianz Arena in Munich and are also fitted in the London 2012 Aquatics Arena; this small detail shows that quality has been high on the agenda all the way through the stadium redevelopment. A compact, world class stadium for our nation, one which we have deserved for a long time and which we can now enjoy. This is not just any stadium. It is our stadium and it stands as a symbol of the ‘grander spirit’ of the new Northern Ireland. It is the stadium of George Best, Pat Jennings, Danny Blanchflower and Billy Bingham as well as that of Michael O’Neill, Steven Davis and the current squad.

We are the country of Rory McIlroy, Seamus Heaney, AP McCoy and Van Morrison and the National Football Stadium is a physical manifestation of all that is good about this country. Already on the way in or out of George Best Belfast City Airport passengers look out of the aeroplane window and gaze at the new addition to the Belfast skyline, perhaps remembering performances of old, perhaps dreaming of qualifying for future tournaments. There are too many people to thank for getting us here tonight, however ones I cannot miss out are the Northern Ireland Executive for providing the vast majority of the funding, Mark Haslett, Andy Priest and Geoff Patterson who between them designed and managed the entire project, all the members of the stadium project board who ensured we maintained good governance throughout and, of course, Linfield Football Club without whose agreement we could not have moved forward. Tonight I am delighted that we have as our special guest FIFA President Gianni Infantino who will formally open the stadium. Gianni is the symbol of a new FIFA as much as the National Football Stadium is a symbol of a new and confident Northern Ireland. Thanks for coming Gianni, and we hope you and everyone else present tonight

enjoy the match. Patrick Nelson Chief Executive Irish Football Association

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