The club is delighted to announce its schedule of pre-season friendlies, starting with the Marcus Kane Testimonial match v St Mirren and including a pre-Europe meeting with Kilmarnock and games with Bangor, H&W Welders, Dundela, East Belfast and Portadown. .
Our games in the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League will take place on July 13th and 20th with the draw taking place on June 20th. This schedule has been planned to give the players the best possible preparation for Europe, with two games v SPFL opposition.
Manager Rodney McAree said of the pre-season programme: I’m very pleased with this schedule. We are determined to progress as far as we can in the Europa Conference this season so its important the players have a strenuous and challenging lead up to the opening round. With St Mirren and Kilmarnock - both strong SPL teams – we have full time professional opponents. We have Bangor off the back of a promotion winning season and we know our neighbours the Welders always give Glentoran a tough match, whether competitive or in a friendly. So I’m confident we’ll be entering our first European game on July 13th in a strong condition both physically and mentally. It’s important our supporters attend all these games in good numbers to get behind the players and quickly get them used to the added intensity brought by a loud and vocal support.
I’m also delighted we have such strong opposition for Moko’s Testimonial game. I know Moko is the first Glentoran player to have a testimonial for a long time but no one could possibly deserve it more. He’s a fantastic clubman and a great leader on and off the pitch, I know the supporters love him as much as he loves Glentoran after being here for eleven seasons and I know there will be another great crowd at the Blanchflower that day to pay him a very deserved tribute.”
The full list of July fixtures is on this graphic by Beth Stafford.
28 June: v St Mirren (Marcus Kane Testimonial) - Blanchflower Stadium
1 July - H&W Welders (A)
4 July - Kilmarnock (H)
8 July - Bangor (H)
13 July - Europa Conference League First Qualifying Round Leg 1
15 July - Dundela (A)
20 July - Europa Conference League First Qualifying Round Leg 2
22 July - East Belfast (TBC)
29 July - Portadown (A)
