Sevilla fans warm to Gaelic football

Some 30,000 Spanish soccer fans at Sevilla’s Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan got a taste of Gaelic football last night, with players from the local Éire Óg Sevilla club playing an exhibition game at half-time of the Primera Division side’s clash with Granada.

After Sevilla’s Euro 2012 winning stars Jesús Navas and Álvaro Negredo starred in the first half against their Andalucian neighbours, the Éire Óg players — male and female, Irish, Spanish and Scottish — played a six minute seven-a-side game to showcase the sport to local fans.

Sevilla won the game 3-0.

The initiative formed part of a push by the La Liga club to attract more non-Spanish supporters, with similar promotions involving Uruguay, Italy, the UK, Romania, Peru and Romania this season.

Tickets for last night’s game were just €5 for Irish passport holders, while the Irish flag was flown over the stadium, goalscorers were announced as Gaeilge and trad band Rare Folk entertained fans before the game.

Irishman Patrick ‘Don Patricio’ O’Connell, who managed Sevilla from 1942 to 1945, and guided city rivals Real Betis to the La Liga crown in 1935, was also remembered.

Éire Óg Seville was formed in 2009.

The club has an ever increasing number of Spanish members, alongside Irish ex-pats from Waterford, Sligo, Mayo, Tipperary, Laois, Dublin and Meath and a sprinkling of English, Scottish, American and Swedish players.

The ‘verdirojos’ compete against Costa Gaels (of Marbella) and Gibraltar Gaels in the Croke Park sanctioned Andalucian league, and fields both men’s and ladies’ teams against rivals from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and other Spanish cities in the Iberian Championship.

Éire Óg Seville hosted a round of the regional championship in February 2011, generating significant publicity and sparking further interest in the GAA among the local community.