Yankee Stadium to host Ireland
The home of the famous New York Yankees baseball team, it opened in 2009 as a replacement for the original Yankee Stadium and incorporates many of the design elements of its historic predecessor. Located in the Bronx, the stadium has a capacity of just over 50,000 and last year hosted its first football match — a 1-1 draw in July between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain — followed by a game in August between AC Milan and Real Madrid, which saw the latter win 5-1 in front of a crowd of nearly 49,500.
Although it was originally suggested Ireland would play two games on their summer trip to the United States, it has now emerged there will only be one match, when the Irish face the Spanish in New York on June 11.
Meanwhile, Giovanni Trapattoni has welcomed the appointment of Rudd Dokter as the FAI’s new High Performance Director, the splendidly named Dutchman filling the post left vacant by his compatriot Wim Koevermans.
Dokter, aged 57, has wide- ranging international experience, most recently with the KNVB, the Dutch FA, where he has fulfilled a large variety of senior coaching positions at men’s U21, U18, U17, U16 and U15 level as well as the senior women’s team.
In his new role in Irish football, say the FAI, Dokter will oversee the non-senior international men’s programme, the women’s senior and underage international programme, coach education and player development. This will include the Emerging Talent Programme as well as the Academy in Abbotstown, the first phase of which is currently being developed.
“I will be getting involved in Irish football at an exciting time for the game here with the emergence of many promising young players and solid performances at underage international level,” said Dokter. Although he won’t officially take up his post until August, the Dutchman is expected to make a preliminary visit to Ireland next month.
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