• Football

England to return to Ireland for friendly

ESPN staff
February 25, 2014
England are set to play in Ireland for the first time since their match was abandoned in 1995 © Getty Images
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The Republic of Ireland are set to face England in an international friendly in Dublin next summer, sources have told ESPN.

Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney is expected to confirm the date of the England game at the Aviva Stadium imminently, with a May or June fixture tipped to attract a sell-out crowd in the Irish capital.

It will be the first time England will play in Ireland since the infamous abandoned fixture in February 1995, when visiting fans rioted and forced the game to be called off after just 28 minutes.

The fixture appears to have been agreed in principle by the FAI and their English Football Association counterparts when they arranged the friendly between the two nations at Wembley last May.

"There was a reciprocal agreement for them to come to Dublin," stated Delaney. "I thought it was right that we played the first match at Wembley because the last time we played them was the 1995 game."

There have been suggestions that England could have played a game in Dublin as part of their preparations for this summer's World Cup, but it seems as if the game will now be played next year.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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