Shamrock Rovers set to face Celtic in Tallaght on July 8th

The Hoops will face The Bhoys in an exciting friendly match, which is scheduled for the Tallaght Stadium on Saturday July 8^th.

Brendan Rodgers will bring his all-conquering Celtic side to Dublin to face Stephen Bradley’s Shamrock Rovers.

The Scottish treble winning Glasgow side will use the Rovers fixture as a warm-up for their UEFA Champions League qualifier, which is scheduled for the following week. It is hoped that some of the trophies Celtic have won during the 2016/17 season will be on display in Tallaght for the match, which will kick-off at 3.00 p.m.

The record-equalling Celtic boss is eagerly anticipating the Rovers friendly. He and his backroom team view the game as ideal preparation for the Champions League and the new Scottish domestic season, which gets underway on August 5th. “We’re looking forward to going over and taking Celtic to our great supporters in Ireland and it’s a good point in the season to get some pre-season sharpness,” said Rodgers at the announcement of the match.

“We’ll have a strong team there, we are not sending a Celtic XI or a reserve team, we are bringing the strongest squad that we have. It will be all the first team squad, players and management.”

Rodgers is well acquainted with the Rovers management team as he went on to explain. "Stephen Bradley is a guy I seen as an outstanding young player at Arsenal. Damien [Duff] I know well from my Chelsea days. Stephen McPhail came over a couple of months ago to have a look at what we do here at Celtic."

Rovers and Celtic have faced off before, most famously in the old European Champions Cup in 1986/87. Rovers’ home leg was the last big European night at the beloved Milltown ground before a crowd of 18,000. Rovers played well but a late breakaway Murdo McLeod goal gave Celtic a 1-0 win on the night. Celtic eventually advanced 3-0 on aggregate after the second leg at Parkhead.

Shamrock Rovers have announced that adult tickets for the friendly are available from Thursday 1^st June on www.shamrockrovers.ie/match-tickets/, priced at €20. Adults (€20) and a limited supply of concession (€10) tickets will be on sale at the Shamrock Rovers v St Patrick’s Athletic game inside the Tallaght Stadium on Friday night (June 2nd) from half time.

Rovers are putting together hospitality and sponsorship packages are being put together with more details to follow in the coming weeks. Anybody interested is invited to contact the  club for more details: brendanmurray@shamrockrovers.ie or call +353 1 4605948.