- St Bede’s host Annual Irish Football Tournament
St Bede’s College in Manchester has just hosted the annual Football International with the renowned Blackrock College from Dublin. The College is one of Ireland’s premier Independent Catholic Schools whose former pupils include Eamon De Valera, Sir Bob Geldolf and the current Irish Rugby captain – Brian O’Driscoll.
The special sporting weekend, part of the 150th anniversary celebrations for the famous Dublin College, was first established in 2002. The fixture is hosted alternately by each of the Colleges and the aim is to develop strong and lasting friendships between the two famous Catholic institutions. The visiting students spend the weekend with host families from each establishment.
This year’s weekend took place from Friday 5 February until Sunday 7 February. Head of Football, Steve Fallon, said: “It was another very enjoyable weekend with some excellent football played by all the teams involved. After the fixture we were able to take the two Blackrock teams to watch Manchester United beat Portsmouth 5-0. The match tickets for all the players and staff had been kindly donated by the parents at the College. The teams even got a mention at half time by the on the pitch announcer, Alan Keegan, from Manchester United. I am sure that this experience in the Theatre of Dreams alone will stay with our Irish visitors forever.”
Both Blackrock’s 1st X1 and 2nd X1 Football squads came over to play the hotly contested fixture which is usually a very evenly matched competition. The fixture was played on Saturday 6 February at the College playing fields. St Bede’s won the Ist XI Blackrock sponsored Waterford Crystal Trophy by beating Blackrock on penalties, 5-4, the game having finished 2-2 in extra time. The two goals were scored for St Bede’s by midfielder Michael Keane who is currently a member of Manchester’s United’s Junior Academy. Blackrock did not go home empty handed as they won the Rowlands sponsored 2nd X1 Trophy by beating St Bede’s 3-2.
The weekend culminated with Mass in the College Chapel celebrated by Monsignor Quinlan with all players, staff and parents present. This was followed by a breakfast brunch in the Dining Room and the presentation of trophies by Chairman of Governors, Monsignor Quinlan, and Headmaster, Michael Barber.
