Celtic set to face League of Ireland Premier Division side Cork City in the summer, as The Celtic Star reported last week…
Brendan Rodgers will take his side to Ireland for one of Celtic’s first pre-season friendlies of season 2025/2026 on Tuesday, 8 July according to a new report in the Irish Mirror.
On 18 February The Celtic Star reported as follows:
Celtic rumoured to be heading to Ireland to play Cork City in the summer…
News today about another summer friendly match for Celtic, this time it’s a visit to Ireland to play Cork City at the 45,000 capacity Pairc Uí Caoimh.
The short report on the League of Ireland Talk website doesn’t give any dates but names Celtic as the ‘big UK club’ that the Cork City owner Dermot Usher has been talking about bring over for a summer friendly.
The report states:
The Rebel Army are set to face Celtic in a big summer friendly in the Pairc! Cork City FC owner Dermot Usher previously stated on the Rebel Army Podcast that the club were in talks to host a big Summer friendly against a big UK club.
The ‘big club’ looks to be Celtic. A smart move by the club, knowing that Celtic has a huge Irish fanbase. A huge money maker for both Cork City and Pairc Ui Caoimh. The big question is, do you think the match will sell out?
Attendances are soaring in Irish football
Pairc Ui Caoimh was re-developed with the work ending in 2017 and now has a capacity of 45,000, thus the question about whether it would sell out for a friendly match against Celtic. Attendances are soaring in Irish football and there is no doubt that the beautiful game on the Emerald Isle is on the up.
From the Celtic supporters point of view, our Irish fans will certainly be there and plenty will want to travel from Scotland and elsewhere in Britain to attend this match.
Celtic visited Sligo last October
Ideally Celtic should be looking at playing a match in Ireland every year to give something back to the huge Celtic support who travel over to Scotland for just about every match and also to make sure that the club and our association and affinity for Ireland is front and centre stage amid blanket coverage for the English League which is clearly taking attention from Celtic, particularly with younger football fans.
Luis Palma scored a hat-trick at the Showgrounds in Sligo
Celtic played a friendly against Sligo Rovers in the October international break last October with Luis Palma scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 victory at a sold-out Showgrounds in Sligo. It was a game Celtic, with many B team players playing, looked like losing for long spells. Two late goals from the Honduran winger turned a 2-1 defeat around to give Celtic a 3-2 win with Luis Palma claiming the match-ball.
Celtic has also reportedly lined up a pre-season friendly with Newcastle United at Celtic Park but as of yet Celtic has NOT confirmed that these matches are taking place.
Here’s some footage of Cork City beating Celtic 2-0 back in July 1991…
The Celtic team that day in July 1991 was as follows: Bonner (McLean 46), McNally, Fulton, Galloway, Whyte, McCahill, Hayes (Grant 46), P.McStay, Dziekanowski (Walker 46), Cascarino (Creaney 46), Hewitt (Wdowczyk 46).
Attendance was 6000.
EXCLUSIVE 🇮🇪
LOI Talk can exclusively report that Cork City are set to play a friendly against Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the home of Cork GAA.
Read more: https://t.co/2QdQsGfRxy
— LOI Talk (@loi_talk) February 17, 2025
A 45,000 capacity match against Cork City would be outstanding
Celtic supporters will be expected to travel in their numbers across the Irish Sea where the game will take place at the 45,000 seater Páirc Uí Chaoimh which is home to Cork GAA.
Celtic posted a cryptic tweet on X late Monday night in response to a post from Páirc Uí Chaoimh official account which said: “Save the date…” with a green and white graphic circled around the text. Essentially confirming the tie, Rodgers’ men will make their latest journey to Ireland during the summer.
Journalist Dylan O’Connell writing in echoelive.ie provides this update:
Cork City are set to play Celtic in a marquee friendly on Tuesday, July 8 at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The Rebel Army will meet a treble-chasing Hoops side that will have Douglas native Adam Idah in their ranks.
It is unclear at this moment in time how the friendly will be managed over the nature of the terraces at the venue, as such structures are banned under UEFA regulations, although this issue is expected to be sorted out, with a capacity attendance of 45,000 expected. Without the terraces, a crowd of 23,000 would be the maximum.
The fixture marks the culmination of a long process of complex negotiations, with rumours first arising of the possibility of a friendly in December 2024.
The Hoops most recently faced Sligo Rovers in a friendly back in October and also featured in a 1-1 draw against English Premier League outfit Wolves at the Aviva Stadium in July 2023. Celtic won that match against Sligo Rovers thanks to a Luis Palma hat-trick.
Celtic’s domestic campaign and most likely title-defence will kick-off on 2 August and preparations for the league campaign and Champions League qualifiers look certain to begin in Cork at the beginning of July.
👀 🇮🇪 🔜 https://t.co/Gw7s7JYb9r
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 24, 2025
Conor Spence
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