Well that was swift.
The Champions League qualifying round fixtures were drawn this morning after following its conclusion, all the talk was over a possible meeting between Linfield and Celtic... In Belfast... On July 12th.
Such a fixture at such a time would cause far to much trouble to justify the game going ahead, and this is something that both clubs realised as officials from both sides discussed over lunch following the draw.
Linfield chairman Roy McGivern has also been talking to the PSNI about the best plan going forward, and he claimed that at this stage that looks like holding the fixture on July 11th.
From a football point of view it is fantastic.
I had lunch with Celtic's representatives after the draw and we've had initial discussions about the games.
Obviously we have a two-legged tie against La Fiorita first and we won't get ahead of ourselves, but with the second qualifying round so soon after, it is vital be start thinking about arrangements now for a potential blockbuster tie.
We've also had a chat with UEFA and we had ruled out July 12 for obvious reasons, purely from a practical point of view. Our preference is to play the home leg first, for financial reasons that's obvious the best thing for us.
At this stage the first leg would be on July 11, potentially with an early kick-off but there are discussions going on at home now with the PSNI to see how that would be managed.
That is the preferred option at the moment but there have been no discussions about switching the games at all.
And early kick-off too.
It's good to see that he's not taking his eye off the ball considering that Linfield have to get through the first round first, but it would have been madness not to try and sort this out well in advance.
A side from San Marino is all that stands between Celtic and a very interesting trip to Belfast.
[via EirSport]
