Salthill Park, Saturday May 30 andSunday May 31
This year’s Carlsberg Fives will be ‘bookended’ by the Volvo Race experience. The Red Arrows will fly over on Saturday afternoon, but to the hundreds of players strutting their stuff in the park this will be merely background noise as 16 hours of non-stop football moves inexorably toward the final game.
There are very few sure bets in this world, but the nearest you will come to one is that none of the players in this year’s 33rd Carlsberg Fives can remember when there was no Fives. Few tournaments anywhere have enjoyed the longevity or sustained the appeal of the Fives.
One of Ireland’s most successful sportsmen was once referred to as “never having lost the common touch”. Personifying that quality, the Carlsberg Fives allows 1,000 soccer players of varying standards to be gladiators of sorts – some for the weekend and others for just 10 minutes. Such is the charisma of the ‘Fives’ that is has never lost its appeal or its accessibility. Being open to all teams of all standards has been the crowning glory of the tournament since its inception in 1977.
Salthill Devon chairman Tony Johnstone said; “Carlsberg is synonymous with success and the Fives are likewise, which makes for an ideal partnership. We in Salthill Devon look on our relationship with Carlsberg as a partnership rather than just a sponsorship deal and hope it continues into the future.
“It takes a huge effort right across the board to get the Fives to the park each year; once the first game kicks off, it takes on a life of it own.”
The 2009 renewal promises to be as competitive and spectacular as ever and you can now enter and pay your fee online at http://www.salthilldevon.ie/fives.asp.
