The GAA is no longer a purely Irish preserve and this was evident on Monday night when Eire Og Sevilla played a six minute exhibition game at half time in the Spanish Primera Liga soccer match between Sevilla and Granada.
This game arose out of a specific marketing plan drawn up by the soccer club to attract foreigners living in the city to become supporters and members. Throughout this season they are dedicating each home game to a different country and Monday night was the turn of Ireland.
Any Irish national who turned up last night will have been able to gain access to the game, and the evening’s entertainment for only €5. The hope is that having seen what the facilities and the team are like that they will return again for games other than those against Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The Irish flag flew, the Ambassador attended and took part in the pre-match show, traditional Irish music was played at half-time by an Irish music group, and Eire Og had six minutes to demonstrate what gaelic football is all about.
The two teams wore shirts sponsored by a local Irish owned language school and pub. The game and part of the half time show was broadcast live on Marca TV, expanding further the reach of the exhibition.
Gaelic football is growing in Andalucia with Éire Óg Sevilla, Costa Gaels and Gibraltar Gaels currently competing in the first edition of the Andalucían league and there are now nine clubs competing at a national level.
The FAI is promoting next month’s friendly international against poland to the large Polish community here and it is to be hoped that clubs from the Airtricity League will also be involved in the bid to generate interest from different communities in local teams here, as we have written about before.
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GAA Stars in Spanish Liga
