O'Neill on Royal visit for squad announcement
The spotlight will shine brightly on the MDL tomorrow (Thursday) when many of the young soccer players of the future will take part in the Leinster SPAR FAI Primary Schools' Five-a-side finals - and among the interested spectators could be Martin O'Neill.
The Republic of Ireland boss will be at the MDL as part of a media event to announce the squad for the forthcoming friendly fixtures against Celtic (Sunday 20th May), France (Monday 28th May) and the United States (Saturday 2nd June). While at the venue he might take a moment to observe some of the action.
The press conference is scheduled to kick-off at midday and there is sure to be a big contingent of media at the event. While all that is going on the next Robbie Keane or Damien Duff could be performing in the Leinster schools finals which start at 11am and will feature a number of Meath teams including the boys from Dunderry NS, O'Growney NS, Athboy and Realt na Mara, Donacarney who were all successful in their sections at the recent North Leinster finals.
They will be joined at the MDL by the girls from Scoil Cholmcille, Skryne who were successful in winning section B for medium-sized schools at the North Leinster finals. Now the chance to claim a Leinster crown beckons.
Schools soccer has become hugely popular in recent years. The games are big occasions for the youngsters as they seek to bring honour to their schools and there are sure to be a big contingent of parents in attendance at the MDL supporting their young heroes.
The arrival of O'Neill at the MDL is the most recent visit by a prominent soccer official to Meath. A few weeks ago FAI Chief Executive John Delaney turned the sod on Bohermeen Celtic's proposed new development. Delaney brought good news too as he pledged the FAI would be contributing €10,000 to the project.
Bohermeen Celtic have very ambitious plans for their new facilities at Derek Brady Park. The project is expected to cost €100,000 and will include two full-sized pitches as well as smaller pitches for under-age teams and a clubhouse.
Improvements at the MDL are also underway and are expected to cost in the region of €100,000. So far €1.6 million has been spent on upgrading the MDL facilities.
This year one of the chief driving forces behind the improvements, NEFL secretary Gerry Gorman, has taken over the role of President of the Leinster Football Association. It's a prestigious position underlying the very significant part he has played in promoting the game.
The FAI have also revealed that they will hold their 2019 annual meeting in Meath. For now, however, the focus, and limelight, will be on the schools' finals and O'Neill's visit.