CORK CITY AREN’T putting plans in place to move their next European home game to a larger venue should they be paired with Scottish champions Celtic.
In Monday’s draw for the third qualifying round of the Europa League, City discovered that they will face the losers of the Champions League tie between Celtic and Rosenborg.
Brendan Rodgers’ side host the Norwegian champions at Parkhead tomorrow evening, before making the trip to Trondheim for the second leg seven days later.
The defeated team from that tie will move into the Europa League, with Cork City currently scheduled to have home advantage for the first leg on Thursday, 9 August.
While Celtic are favourites to advance in the Champions League at the expense of a Rosenborg side who sacked their manager last week, only a goal separated the teams when they met in the qualifying rounds of last season’s competition.
Given the club’s substantial following here, a competitive game involving Celtic in Cork would create a demand for tickets which would undoubtedly exceed the capacity of City’s home ground at Turner’s Cross, which can hold just under 7,000 spectators.
It’s understood that while Cork City recently made a tentative enquiry about the availability of Thomond Park in the event of being drawn against Celtic in the first qualifying round of the Champions League, they don’t intend to move a potential home game against the Scots to Limerick or any other venue.
A spokesperson for the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division champions told The42 today that the club has nominated Turner’s Cross as its venue for the tie and preparations for the home leg have already begun.
There is a proviso for Uefa to insist on a change of venue if safety or security concerns are raised, but such a scenario appears unlikely. Two years ago, City hosted Belgian side Genk at a sold-out Turner’s Cross at the same stage of the Europa League.
At last night’s Premier Division game against Derry City, tickets for the visit of Rosenborg or Celtic went on sale to Cork City season ticket holders and club members, with well over 2,000 already snapped up. Tickets will go on general sale on Thursday, 2 August.
Irrespective of the outcome of their Europa League third round qualifier, Cork City are already guaranteed to earn a minimum of €820,000 from this European campaign, which began with a 4-0 aggregate defeat to Polish champions Legia Warsaw in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
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