It’s a David vs Goliath tale about the opera of football, the city of Limerick and a game that few remember but three men can never forget.

The documentary is set to have its world premiere online at Galway Film Fleadh 2021 from July 20th – July 25th. 

The short film is directed by award-winning filmmaker Cian O Connor and is funded by Limerick Arts Bursary.

The film features interviews with Limerick legends like Des Kennedy and Kevin Fitzpatrick as well as local fans such as Gary Spain – the historian of Limerick soccer, and publican, JJ O Dea.

The aim of the film according to director Cian O Connor, “was to not only tell the great story of this famous match but also to shine a light on that team and the golden era of Limerick soccer”.

The film according to Cian also aims to capture the spirit of the city of Limerick and its people. 

Limerick FC played Real Madrid on the 17th of September 1980 in what today would be known as the UEFA Champions League.

The match was played in Lansdowne Road much to the disappointment of local Limerick fans.

The game itself was a thriller with a goal by Des Kennedy and an excellent showing by the Limerick team. 

The film will screen online at the prestigious Galway Film Fleadh from the dates mentioned above.

Tickets for the online showing can be bought on the Galway Film Fleadh website.

The film will also be going on a national film festival run with showings across the country and a Youtube release set in the near future. 

Click here to get tickets for the Galway Film Fleadh.

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Whether you support Real Madrid or Valencia, Barcelona or Athletico, there are plenty of opportunities for you to watch your favourite players in the La Liga. And since its inception through to the present day, La Liga has grown and developed, racking up some impressive stats and interesting facts along the way.

It is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the world

Since it formed in 1929, La Liga is one of the most followed football leagues in the world. The average attendance for league matches in 2018-19 was over 26,000. At the moment it is the third-highest professional football league in the world in terms of match attendance, behind only the German Bundesliga and the English Premier League.

Lionel Messi is the all time top goalscorer

Still active in La Liga, Lionel Messi is the top goalscorer and is far ahead of any other players. Considering he has scored 447 goals in 492 matches for Barcelona so far, you might be waiting a while for another player to beat his record. Most other top goalscorers are still hundreds of goals behind him – even close rival Ronaldo, who is the league’s second highest scorer, only netted 311 La Liga goals playing for Real Madrid before departing to play for Italian team Juventus in 2018.

Real Madrid have been the champions the most times

In second place on the list of champions, Barcelona have won La Liga an impressive twenty-six times. However, that is still nothing on the number one spot! Real Madrid are top of the board having been champions of La Liga an incredible thirty-four times so far. Having first won in the 1931-32 season, their last winning season was 2019-20. If you missed out on the recent season, there are some La Liga videos available to watch online to catch up on all the highlights.

Andoni Zubizarreta is still the player with the most appearances

While he was active from 1981-1998, Zubizarreta still holds the record for the player who has had the most appearances in La Liga. During his time playing for Barcelona, Athletico Bilbao, and Valencia, he made an incredible 622 appearances! While these appearances are an outstanding number, Zubizarreta never netted a single La Liga goal during his career.

Vicenç Martínez was the youngest player in the league

The youngest player ever to play for a La Liga team was Vicenç Martínez Alama (12 January 1925 — 2 October 2018). On 19 October 1941, he put on a Barcelona shirt at just sixteen years old and became Barcelona’s youngest ever player. That day he played in ‘El Clasico’ against Real Madrid but, unfortunately, was on the 4-3 losing side. Unfortunately for him, an injury caused him to retire in 1953 at just the age of twenty-eight.

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La Liga was suspended on 12 March last due to coronavirus but permission was granted earlier this week for group training of up to 10 players to begin.

The Spanish government has given the green light for the return of professional sport – including #LaLigaSantander and #LaLigaSmartBank – as of June 8th, following guidelines from the Ministry of Health.#BackToWin pic.twitter.com/OjjV61pnBf

— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) May 23, 2020

“Spain has done what it needed to do and now new horizons can open for everyone. The time has come to recover many of our daily activities. From 8 June, LaLiga will be able to return,” the country’s Prime Minister said earlier today, adding, “Spanish football has a huge following but it will not be the only recreation activity that will return.”

Current La Liga champions Barcelona lead great rivals Real Madrid by two points with 11 round of the competition yet to play.

Spain follows Germany in announcing a return to league action, with the German Bundesliga having started last weekend.

Spain’s neighbours, Portugal, will see action recommence in their Primeira Liga on 3rd June, England’s Premier League has mentioned June 12th or 19th as possible starting dates, while Italy’s Serie A looks set to begin on June 15th.

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The Champions League was suspended this month as was the Europa League. There were still around 40 games to be played in the competitions. Euro 2020 which was meant to be played out this summer will now be played in 2021. According to Learnbonds data suggest that suspension of matches will cost European clubs a massive 4.1 billion euros.

Looking at cross channel in the UK. The Premier League clubs will lose around 1.28 billion euro. The report states that more than 800 million of that total comes from lost broadcasting revenue. These are likely to from BT Sport and Sky Sports which shows most games. 300 million is expected to be lost in commercial sales, with 180 million drop in match day profit.

The Spanish La Liga will also have a massive loss. Spain which has been hit by pandemic are still in the midst of a lockdown. They are expected to lose around 970 million euros. The Bundesliga in Germany is projected to lose around 790 million, the Serie A in Italy where the virus has hit hardest in Europe is projected to lose up to 700 million in revenue. France Ligue 1 is also going to be a big loss with over 400 million euros.

The threat of players losing their value in terms of transfer money is also under threat. The report outlines that Manchester City would lose 412 million in player value. Barcelona are next on the list with a potential loss of 366 million. Liverpool, Real Madrid and PSG follow with 353 million, 350 million and 302 million in loses.

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La Liga president Javier Tebas says Spain’s domestic football season may resume as early as 28 May in the best-case scenario of options being discussed by the league.

No Spanish side has played a competitive game since 11 March, when Atletico Madrid knocked holders Liverpool out of the Champions League at Anfield.

In a conference call with international journalists, Tebas also said La Liga clubs will lose around €1bn (£884m) if the 2019-20 campaign cannot be restarted.

He also stressed:

• Three potential restart dates of 29 May, 6/7 June and 28 June were being assessed
• Closed-door matches and reduced capacities could be implemented.
• La Liga had already lost €150m (£133m) in sponsorship and ticket revenue
• Spanish football will not ask for any money from central government.
• Eight clubs across the first and second divisions had laid players off.

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