We now know that Martin O’Neill’s first competitive home game in charge of Ireland will be against Gibraltar on Saturday October 11th. That will be followed by four home matches in 2015 as the side battles to secure qualification to the European Championship Finals in France in the summer of 2016.
Each of the matches presents an opportunity to attract businesses for hospitality and sponsorship in a manner that is unique to soccer in terms of regular and different international opportunities.
It is likely that the FAI will reach out to the different Chambers of Commerce and trade associations representing each of the five countries that will be visiting and open up channels of interest and communication that will pay dividends in the longer term.
Gibraltar being first up offers an opportunity to engage with the betting and gaming industry that is one of the state’s principal areas of economic interest.
Scotland and Ireland have many links, not least of which is the strong position which both have as major centres for Sky. Dublin and Livingston are two of the four main centres for staff and customer engagement through the broadcast giant.
There is an active Poland Ireland Chamber of Commerce giving access to businesses that are doing trade between the two countries while the links with Germany are many and varied. There is the longest lead time for planning of initiatives here with that being the final home game of qualifying on Thursday evening, October 8th, 2015.
The way the fixtures have fallen is of some financial concern to the FAI with Gibraltar being the only home fixture to take place during the current year. There is a friendly against Serbia next Wednesday, March 5th for which tickets are now on sale.
