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LEEDS UNITED: Glentoran looking forward to hosting Whites
The visit of Leeds United may immediately precede a juicy Champions League home encounter for Glentoran, but the arrival of the Whites is still box office stuff for the east Belfast club.
Leeds head over to The Oval on July 18 for their first game in Northern Ireland since way back in 1982, and a bumper crowd is expected.
So much so that Glens have allocated Whites fans their own away section, due to the unprecedented interest in the fixture.
And while his mind may be a little preoccupied with European matters and the kudos that comes with all things Champions League, Glens boss and former QPR and Northern Ireland captain Alan McDonald is treating the clash with United deadly seriously.
The friendly is sandwiched in between Glens' tough if glamorous second qualifying round assignment with Israeli big guns Maccabi Haifa, who knocked them out of the European Cup Winners' Cup back in 1998.
Glens make the long trip to Haifa – the first Israeli side to reach the Champions League group stage in the 2002/03 season – on July 15, with the return leg to be played at The Oval in Belfast exactly a week later.
But while the prospect of a famous European night has generated plenty of interest at Glens, who reached the quarter-finals of the old Cup Winners' Cup some 35 years ago, the arrival of United certainly hasn't been put in the shade.
While it offers Glens a chance to pit their wits against marquee Football League opposition, it will also form a major part of the preparation for the domestic season with the Irish FA Premiership holders aiming to reclaim the top-flight title – something they haven't done in more than 40 years.
Boss McDonald said: "We get back from Israel on the Thursday and play Leeds on the Saturday and we'll certainly be treating it seriously.
"Leeds are a high-profile team coming over and it will be two big games for us with the Haifa home game as well.
"Since I've been at the club, we've been quite fortunate in having some really high-profile teams come over.
"Manchester United came over a couple of years ago and we've also had Coventry, Hearts and Espanyol, from Spain. And Burnley also came over last year. Leeds will fit in nicely for us and it's a good tie.
"We've had a lot of interest in the Leeds game. Leeds still have a reasonable fan-base over here and I think we'll have a good turnout.
"I know Leeds have been linked with Warren Feeney and if he signs that's a little positive for us as well, with Warren being from back here and his family are from the area where our club is.
"I'm looking forward to the game. I know Glynn (Snodin) through his work as assistant with Northern Ireland and also John McClelland, who does a bit of hospitality at Leeds. I played with him for the national team.
"I've played at Elland Road many, many times. The last time we played them, we won 3-1 and got relegated from the Premier League that year.
"I remember the famous match in the FA Cup (in 1987 with QPR), although I was suspended for that game.
"Jim Smith was our manager that day and it was an intimidating atmosphere and their support was fantastic.
"It's a crying shame in terms of where they are for such a big club. Everyone is hoping, sooner rather than later, that their fortunes turn around.
"They were a bit unfortunate in the play-offs last year and you'd like to see them back where they belong."
After three long seasons of finishing the bridesmaids to big rivals and treble double-winning champions Linfield, Glens clinched the Irish League title amid joyous scenes last term to end the recent dominance of their big city rivals, who ended the season trophyless.
A drought in terms of silverware is something that had been festering with the Glens faithful since 2005, with the proud club not exactly used to having nothing tangible to look back on throughout their illustrious history.
Their past players' alumni includes greats such as Danny Blanchflower, Peter Doherty, Billy Bingham, Jimmy McIlroy and Terry Conroy.
Given that, their recent success was sweet in the extreme as they lifted the league for the 23rd time in their history and pipped Linfield for glory, with the big two having carved up the end-of-season honours between them for large parts of the league's existence.
Glens nearly made it a famous double, only to lose out in the Setanta Sports Cup final to Cork City, but 2008-09 was still a golden year for the men in green, red and black.
McDonald, whose troops start their championship defence on August 15, added: "We won the league by a point in the end.
"Going into December, we were eight points clear, but then managed to shoot ourselves in the foot and then we found ourselves five points down.
"But we had a pretty good run at the end and managed to win the league for the first time in four years.
"We used to have a few established players who've played over in England and Scotland in our league, but there are not as many now – although we've got a few young players who've gone across the water and come back in our team.
"Gary Hamilton was a youth player at Blackburn and made a couple of first-team appearances – I think through a change of manager and circumstances, it didn't work out for him.
"Andy Waterworth was at Hamilton, Daryl Fordyce was across at Portsmouth and Elliott Morris was at West Brom. Johnny Taylor was at Hearts and also Wolves as well. Loads of players come over and come back through different circumstances.
"With the foreign players, it's difficult for the Irish, Scots and Welsh lads to do as well over there. It probably is for the English lads as well to get through to professional level."
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
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