This week we welcome Ballynahinch in our 3rd AIL game of the season. Last season saw Ballynahinch prevail in what where two very closely contested games. Both clubs have got off to a bright start this season with Ballynahinch travelling to Dublin having beaten Cork Con at home last week. I expect Saturday’s game to be nothing less than a very close affair and hopefully we will see some great rugby from both sides. The game is being played on the Aviva Stadium pitch and it would be great to get members from all parts of the club down to the game. There will be free entry for any of our minis and youths players who arrive in their Lansdowne jerseys.

The match is also being streamed live by the ClubScene podcast with live commentary from Daragh Frawley and our own Dan McEvoy. Their support of the AIL is absolutely fantastic and I would encourage all of you to tune into their podcasts which are published on a weekly basis and provide you with great insight into the club game in Ireland.

I would like to wish our U’15s good luck this week in their game against Bective in an historic game at our new grounds on Claremont road. This will be the first game of rugby to be played in Claremont road and I would encourage as many of you as possible to get down there to support the team and experience our new grounds for yourself.

We are currently in the process of collecting our annual subscriptions and this is an incredibly important source of revenue for the club so if you haven’t already attended to this please sort this out with Stephanie or Elayne in the office (preferably through direct debit).

Lastly on behalf of everyone at Lansdowne I would like to thank Andy Farrell and his coaches, Mick Kearney , Tadgh Beirne, Ronan Kelleher, and Dan Sheehan for a wonderful world cup. Last week’s game didn’t go our way unfortunately but this Irish team have lifted the country and we are all very proud of everything they have achieved over the last couple of seasons and are an inspiration to all of us.

Stephen Rooney
Lansdowne FC President 2023-24