Este comunicado do Cliftonville assinala um marco histórico no que ao Futebol do Povo recente concerne (abaixo).
É pois um jogo conjunto entre dois clubes emblemáticos, o Cliftonville e o Football Club United of Manchester.
Este último é fruto duma associação de sócios do Man.Utd que se rebelaram contra a compra faraónica pelo milionário yankee Glazer.
Desta rebelião organizada brotou o FCUM em 2005, por forma a combater a ameaça mercantilista que se apoderou do clube. Neste momento está a militar numa divisão regional da área de Manchester.
Já o Cliftonville AKA "Red Rebels" é tão simplesmente o mais antigo clube de futebol da Irlanda, que nunca perdeu o seu carácter proletário.
Tanto os "mancunians" do FCUM como os "Rebel Reds" já aqui foram referenciados, onde poderão apreciar excelentes fotos:
http://lowprofiler16.blogspot.com/search/label/f.c.united%20manchesterhttp://lowprofiler16.blogspot.com/search/label/cliftonville(Não tenho vagar para traduzir o comunicado, por isso, se quiserem usem tradutor. Há uns quantos decentes aí pela net.)
«Cliftonville Football Club are delighted to announce that FC United of Manchester will visit Solitude this summer to compete for the inaugural Ladbrokes Supporters Cup.
> Formed in 2005, FC United currently ply their trade in the Northern Premier League Premier Division and will go head to head with the Reds on Saturday, July 17.
> The Bury-based side - known affectionately as the Red Rebels - are, like Cliftonville, owned by their supporters and General Manager Andy Walsh says that all associated with FC United are looking forward to making the trip.
> "We're delighted to accept Cliftonville's invitation and it's an honour to play a friendly against a fellow fans-owned Club," he said.
> "We're looking forward to challenging ourselves against an Irish Premier League team."
> Cliftonville Chairman Gerard Lawlor said: "We know all to 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."
> Cliftonville hope to announce associated social events around the occasion in due course, while Ladbrokes spokesman David Williams revealed the company are delighted to lend their backing to the event.
> "We are very proud to be involved in bringing FC United of Manchester to Ireland for the first time in their history," he explained.
> "We understand the importance of members-owned clubs in the modern game, so to have the oldest in Ireland play one of the newest in England will certainly be something special.
> "The passion and dedication of both sets of supporters is something to admire and we hope this will be the start of a long relationship between the Clubs."
http://www.cliftonvillefc.net/ .
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