It feels like only yesterday that we watched Elliot Morris and Colin Nixon live the Irish Cup proudly infront of the North Stand on 4th May yet here we are back playing competitive football in early July. The dust has barely settled on last season yet Eddie Patterson and his side have already returned to training, brought in a number of new faces and seen a number of players leave the club. The manager deserves a lot of credit for signing the new players early in the transfer window, giving us the best possible chance to field a full team in Europe.
European adventures have become part of life for Glentoran fans over the course of the club's history. From the first British side to win a European trophy with the Vienna Cup in 1914, to the many infamous ties against European giants such as Rangers, Benfica and Juventus. Glentoran have played a significant role in European Football's rich history. Winning the Irish Cup for a 21st time last season has seen us qualify again, following our first year out of Europe for over a decade. The financial boosts playing a European tie provide the club with are hugely significant and winning a tie even more so.
This season we have been drawn to play KR Reykjavik from Iceland. KR beat us in the same competition two years ago by 3-0 in Iceland before staging a 2-2 draw at The Oval. Eddie Patterson and his team travelled to Iceland last Thursday and perfomed heroically, securing a competitive 0-0 draw giving us a massive chance come Thursday night.
There have been a number of changes in faces at The Oval this summer, both highs and lows. The lows are well documented, Sean Ward's transfer to Linfield may have been on the cards for some time but Andy Waterworth's decision to join our biggest rivals particularly cut deep. The news of Stephen Carson's decision to leave the club as well has been a blow to our pre-season. However for a club like Glentoran, no one player is bigger than the club and our manager has been busy replacing these players. Mark Miskimmon has signed from Donegal Celtic, David Scullion from Coleraine, Jordan Hughes from Lisburn Distillery, Jonny Addis from Carrick, Ryan O'Neill from Dungannon and Niall Henderson from Glenavon have all signed too. For tomorrow night's game, David Scullion, Ryan O'Neill and Niall Henderson are unavailable whilst regular Calum Birney faces a fitness test after going off injured last week in Iceland.
Our visitors KR despite not being able to score at home will still be favourites considering their higher UEFA seeding. They have been in fantastic form so far this season, sitting top of the Icelandic Premier League with 25 points from 9 games, two points clear of FH with a game in hand. Confidence will undoubtedly be high in our visitors and it will take another Cup Final performance for Glentoran to emerge victorious. A dream tie in the next round awaits the winner against Belgium's Standard Liege.
Although the game coincides with the 11th July celebrations in East Belfast, it would be fantastic if fans could make the effort to attend such an important game for the club. We are anticipating great weather, a great crowd and hopefully a great result to go with it! We would finally like to welcome our visitors from Iceland to Belfast and hope they enjoy their stay in the city and are made to feel welcome at Glentoran.