Road to SuperCupNI – a special series of short reads for our 40th anniversary tournament.
We’re inviting teams to tell us a little about themselves, how preparations are going and what coming participating in SuperCupNI means to them.
Next up in the series – Donegal.
Donegal head coach Chris Dunnion believes that they have landed the plumb draw in the SuperCupNI as they take on Rangers, Kilmarnock and County Antrim.
After hearing of their acceptance into the world renowned tournament the group have been buzzing and this has escalated since learning of the draw a few weeks ago.
Dunnion is relishing the prospect of pitting his Donegal team against Rangers in their opening tie at Coleraine Showgrounds.
“It’s the best draw we could have hoped for to play Rangers in Coleraine.
A lot of our players being from Donegal have big Celtic connections and this is sure to be an occasion never to forget for the group.
Personally its going to be brilliant to see the likes of Rangers, Kilmarnock etc and experience how these top clubs prepare and conduct themselves both on and off the pitch and it will give our players a huge insight on what it will be like as a professional as they will experience cameras and media on a daily basis.”
I was never fortunate enough to play in SuperCupNI, but growing up, it was always the tournament to watch out for each summer.
We are all to familiar with the household names that have played in the tournament in years gone by. Players such as Fernandinho, James Milner, Wayne Rooney, Sergio Busquets, the list is endless and who knows, perhaps someone within our own group will be lucky enough to propel themselves into the shop window this year.
We have participated in the Kennedy Cup in Limerick last month narrowly losing out on penalties in the quarter final but this will hopefully stand us in good stead as we prepare for the upcoming games at SuperCupNI.
Overall we want the players to enjoy this experience and take it all in as sometimes these events can pass you by until you look back in later years.
Hopefully they create new friendships and compete in the games and as always they will do everyone proud back home in Donegal.”