WOMEN’S WORLD CUP final referee Stéphanie Frappart will take charge of the second leg of the inaugural cross-border competition, Unite the Union Champions Cup.
The competition was officially launched today, and consists of a two-legged play-off between SSE Airtricity League Champions Dundalk and Northern Irish Football League Champions Linfield.
The first leg is at Windsor Park on Friday, 8 November and the return game is on Monday, 11 November at Oriel Park.
Frappart will take charge of the game in Dundalk, and will be assisted by Wexford native Michelle O’Neill and Manuela Nicolosi of France. The fourth official will be Paula Brady of Dublin.
Frappart, O’Neill and Nicolosi made history in August when they took charge of the Uefa Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea, the first time a game in a major men’s Uefa competition had been overseen by an all-female officiating team.
The competition is sponsored by trade union Unite, who have signed up as title sponsors of the competition for three years. The winners win €50,000 in prize money, with the runners-up given €25,000.
Another €25,000 has been ring-fenced for community projects in the respective team’s local areas.
It is the first cross-border competition to be staged in Ireland since the Setanta Cup, which ran from 2005 to 2014. “We’re thoroughly looking forward to the Unite the Union Champions Cup. The return of a cross-border competition is a huge boost for the domestic calendar in Ireland,” said FAI Competitions Director Fran Gavin.
“Everyone in Unite is excited with the prospect of the Champions Cup. Football is something that is in the veins of working class people, of their communities; it cuts across divides and brings people together,” said Unite the Union Regional Secretary Jackie Pollock.
Both legs will be broadcast live on television, with details to be announced in the very near future.
