Manager Gary Haveron has asked www.Glentoran.com to pass on his sincere thanks to all at John Neill Dedicated Fitness Gym for accommodating the entire first team squad training session at very short notice on Saturday 4th March.
The Board of Glentoran FC extends sincere regret and deepest condolences to our former player and manager Paul Millar on the tragic loss of his son, Philip.
We're sure the thoughts of the entire Glentoran community will be with Paul and his family at this most difficult time.
Le Jeu Avant Tout
It promises to be quite a night on Saturday June 10th when the famous Detroit Cougars make a return to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the never to be forgotten tour across North America in 1967.
Organised by the Glentoran Supporters Committee (1923), a very special evening is being planned with a dinner at the Park Avenue Hotel to mark 50 years since Glentoran, under the guise of the Detroit Cougars, played the great and good of English, Scottish, European and South American football in the inaugural Soccer League in America.
The club is sorry to learn of the death earlier today of former player manager Alex Young.
Alex Young had a brief spell at the Oval in 1968 as successor to his fellow Scot, John Colrain.
Glentoran's hopes of finishing in the top 6 suffered another blow with a narrow home defeat against Linfield. Glentoran's performance mirrored a number of high profile games this season with periods of very encouraging play but a lack of conviction in the final third and sloppy goals costing Gary Haveron's side dearly. There was a quiet feel for a Big Two game with Linfield's title hopes looking bleak after last weekend's shock 1-1 draw with Portadown all but finishing off their chances of catching Crusaders at the summit of the table.
Another Big Two battle and another big Gazette goes on sale. Our Flashback photo features several Irish League legends from both sides, there's an interview with Under 20s manager Mark Clougherty, news of a very special event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Detroit Cougars, two more fascinating articles from our history men Roy Downes and Brian McClelland plus all your usual news, views, stats and top class photo action. Don't miss it!
Although six league places separate the two clubs, the previous three matches this season have been much closer than the league places would indicate. A late winner gave the Blues a 2-1 victory in Gary Haveron’s first game as manager in September. We drew 1-1 at Windsor Park on Boxing Day and in last month’s Irish Cup match we were defeated by an extra time winner after the 90 minutes again finished 1-1.
Reference today's article in the Belfast Telegraph over a call by a group of Linfield supporters.
Glentoran FC has at no point made any comment or complaint - direct or indirect - to any source about the pre match playlist at Windsor Park on Boxing Day.
Had either the newspaper or the Linfield Supporters Trust made contact with the club this would have been immediately and clearly explained.
The relationship between Glentoran and Linfield is a healthy one based on football rivalry. Glentoran's interest is on defeating Linfield and our other rivals on the pitch.
With this being the first Irish League game shown on Sky Sports in a couple of years, both teams will have wanted to show what they could do in front of a nationwide audience. Glentoran, after a solid if a little frustrating point on Saturday against Glenavon, were looking to claw their way into the top six ahead of the approaching league split. Unfortunately, in the warm-up Marcus Kane suffered an injury and was replaced by Aaron Harmon.
Danske Bank Premiership, Cliftonville V Glentoran
Friday 17th February 2017, kick-off 7.45pm.
This week we visit Solitude to play Cliftonville for the third time this season in the Danske Bank Premiership.
Although the Reds are currently five places above us in the table, honours are even in our meetings this season with one win each. We were beaten 2-0 at Solitude in August while second half goals from Nacho Novo and Steven Gordon turned around an early deficit into a 2-1 home win in October.
