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Back in the day: The Irish News: July 10 1997: Unrest puts Linfield-Cliftonville select team in jeopardy

Liverpool and Ireland star Jason McAteer was asked to take part in a friendly with a Cliftonville-Linfield select in July 1997
Liverpool and Ireland star Jason McAteer was asked to take part in a friendly with a Cliftonville-Linfield select in July 1997 Liverpool and Ireland star Jason McAteer was asked to take part in a friendly with a Cliftonville-Linfield select in July 1997

PLANS to bring international soccer stars to Belfast next month may have been destroyed by the current civil unrest in Northern Ireland.

Linfield and Cliftonville football clubs have been involved in talks over recent weeks and were to announce the first ever Linfield-Cliftonville select team which would play an international X1 at Solitude on August 6.

Players from Manchester United and Liverpool have been contacted regarding the game, designed to raise thousands of pounds for a scanner appeal at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children.

Soccer School coach and former Northern Ireland international David Campbell, has received confirmation from English Premiership stars that they would play at Solitude on the proposed date of August 6.

The game was also designed to bring fans of Linfield and Cliftonville together. Blues fans have not stood inside the north Belfast venue since 1979 when the Irish Football League stopped Linfield competing there.

Manchester United’s Paul Scholes, regarded the new Eric Cantona of Old Trafford, Republic internationals Denis Irwin and Roy Keane, Liverpool’s Steve McManaman and Jason McAteer are believed to be among those contacted by David Campbell.

Cliftonville manager Marty Quinn and Linfield boss David Jeffrey have discussed the make-up of a merged XI.

A press conference, planned for next week and kept under wraps for several weeks, was to be launched by Glasgow Celtic skipper Paul McStay and Glasgow Rangers striker Ian Ferguson.

However, Cliftonville chairman Jim Boyce, who has held several meetings with Linfield chairman Billy McCoubrey, said last night, the venture is under threat.

David Campbell though remained optimistic. “There is an uncertainty about the game because of the current trouble,” said Boyce.

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LOUP player Paul McFlynn has returned to the Derry football panel.

McFlynn was one of a number of Derry squad members who defied a team management dictat by playing for their clubs in county league games prior to the Ulster semi-final against Tyrone.

Ballinderry duo Sean Donnelly and Enda Muldoon were also confirmed to have lined out for their clubs a week prior to the Ulster semifinal while it is also understood that a couple of other squad members played for the clubs two weeks before the Tyrone clash.

Five days prior to the Ulster semi-final, Enda Muldoon told the Irish News that he along with clubmate Donnelly and McFlynn had been dropped from the Derry panel.

However, team selector Frank Kearney, after initially claiming the three players had not been axed from the panel, later said the trio had left the county panel “of their own volition.”

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FELIX Healy was in upbeat mood last night after Derry City were drawn against Slovenian side Maribor Teatanic in the qualifying round of UEFA’s Champions League.

The Derry City manager said compared to some of the draws, facing the Slovenia team was not the worst outcome for the Candystripes.

“I’m pretty pleased with the draw,” said Healy.

“We have already managed to find out a wee bit about Maribor. The standard is roughly the same as here and the ground is about 60km from the Austrian/Italian border.”

There is everything to play for, with the winners gaining a place in the second qualifying round against Belize of Turkey, managed by John Toshack. Irish League champions Crusaders face a stern test against Dinamo Tbilisi from Gerogia.

The Crues follow in the steps of Linfield who lost to Tbilisi on aggregate in 1993 but progressed to the next round after the Georgians were found guilty of trying to bribe officials.