27 Mar 2009New 'Celtic Cup' tournament pencilled in for 2011

Football Leagues/ Association and Governance

A new tournament featuring Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland will commence in 2011, it was revealed on Wednesday (March 25th).

The competition, which is already being dubbed the 'Celtic Cup', will launch at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on February 8th and 9th, with the remaining four games to be played between May 24th and 28th.

Commenting on the news, Football Association of Wales secretary David Collins explained that he was "delighted" after putting in plenty of hard work to make the development a reality.

He said: "After many months of work we are delighted that this has now come about. We look forward to a great tournament especially in the new stadium in Dublin and we trust it will be a huge success which will enable us to extend it in future years."

The tournament - which will be hosted by one country on a rotational basis - will see two fixtures taking place on each match day.

England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales participated in the old Home Championship until it was eventually scrapped in 1984.

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