FORTY years on from probably the most famous goal in Northern Ire;and's soccer history, 14 of the players involved in Espana '82 will gather to reminisce and raise money in Belfast.
Saturday June 25 marks the 40th anniversary of Northern Ireland's World Cup victory over host nation Spain, which earned the team a place in the second round.
Gerry Armstrong, who scored that iconic winning goal in Valencia, is organizing 'The Spirit of 82' event in The Europa Hotel - a once-in-a-lifetime reunion of the team of '82 and a chance for fans to celebrate with them. This event is sponsored by Northern Ireland merchant service provider, SmartPayNI.
Armstrong is understandably excited about the forthcoming event, commenting: "The Spirit of 82 is going to be a momentous evening and a chance for most of the team-mates to get together, reminisce about that historic win, share memories, and celebrate with fans over dinner.
"For one night only I will be re-united with the following team-mates: Martin O'Neill, Pat Jennings, Jimmy Nicholl, David McCreery, John McClelland, Mal Donaghy, Billy Hamilton, Jim Cleary, George Dunlop, Felix Healy, John O'Neill, Johnny Jameson, and Sammy Nelson. It's going to be pretty emotional having us all together again.
"BBC's Stephen Watson will be the host and we will also toast the late, great Billy Bingham and raise money for Dementia NI in his honour."
Mark McLaughlin, director of SmartPayNI is delighted to be the event's key sponsor: "SmartPayNI is a local, family run business and we are proud to sponsor such a prestigious, historic event with undoubtedly the strongest NI World Cup team to date.
"The event coincides with the launch of 'The Spirit of 82 Whiskey' and we will be working very closely with Gerry to bring this new, exciting brand to market. It's SmartPayNI's fifth anniversary too, so no better way to celebrate this milestone."
Tickets for the dinner next Saturday 25 June are available from Ticketsource:
www.ticketsource.co.uk/spirit-of-82
