Official Matchday Programme: £2.50 Volume 49 l No.16 Linfield versus Crusaders Saturday 21 December 2019 Kick-off 3.00 pm Windsor Park Belfast • Linfield enter today’s vital league game in a very pleasing pole another All-Ticket position in the premier league table. Recent wins against game, with the Cliftonville (1-0) and Warrenpoint (2-0) have maintained Linfield’s remaining unsold challenge at the top of what has become a tightly congested tickets due to go league table, with only seven points separating the leading five on general sale clubs. While it’s pleasing to hold a two point advantage and with at Windsor Park two games in hand (Larne away and Dungannon at home), there today. will be many twists and turns in what is looking like being a very • Linfield have been close and hotly contested title race in the new year. Today’s game drawn away to is the first in a trio of challenging games against other title Queen’s University contenders (Crusaders, Glentoran and Coleraine) but the full in the opening attention of our manager and staff has been on today’s most round of the Irish difficult of assignments against a Crusaders team that will believe Cup. The game is they can recapture the league title. scheduled for the • A warm Windsor Park welcome is extended to the players, staff, Dub on Saturday management, directors and supporters of Crusaders FC. Our January 4 –kick- visitors arrive in third position in the league table with 39 points off will be at 1.30 from their 20 games to date. The previous game between our two p.m. clubs ended in a 1-0 Seaview win for Crusaders and another closely • Linfield’s All- contested game is anticipated today. Ticket League • Best wishes are extended to the players and staff of Linfield game away to Swifts who will challenge for the prestigious Steel and Sons Cup Cliftonville has Trophy in the Christmas morning (10.45am) Seaview final been delayed to against Newington. It’s an All-Ticket game with tickets presently Monday January on general sale, priced £7 for adults and £5 for concession. 13 and will be Linfield supporters will be accommodated in the Crusaders home broadcast live on ends of the Seaview stadium. Three seasons ago the Swifts won the Sky Sports the final, following a 3-1 win against Dundela but the following network. year, lost the final 1-0 to Newington and hopes are high that • Linfield’s next David Dorrian’s young team can bring the trophy back to Windsor League game Park. against today’s • The Boxing Day ‘Big Two’ Derby is an All-Ticket game, with Linfield opponents supporters having been allocated 3000 tickets for the Oval Crusaders has encounter - traditionally the biggest event in the local football been brought calendar. Any remaining unsold Tickets will be on general sale at forward from Windsor Park today. Saturday February • Next Saturday’s important league game away to Coleraine is 22 to Friday February 21 and will be broadcast live by BBC tv. • A very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to everyone it’s a connected to blue Linfield Football of view Club. point Look at Linfield ...the voice of Linfield Football Club l 03 teaLinm field chCerusacderk s Rohan Ferguson 01 Sean O’Neill 01 Gareth Deane 35 Billy Joe Burns 02 Alex Moore 40 Chris Hegarty 03 Mark Stafford 02 Howard Beverland 04 Ross Larkin 03 Colin Coates 06 Josh Robinson 04 Phillip Lowry 07 Mark Haughey 05 Sean Ward 08 Jimmy Callacher 06 Jamie McGonigle 09 Andrew Waterworth 07 Rory Hale 10 Matthew Shevlin 08 David Cushley 11 Joel Cooper 09 Declan Caddell 12 Jordan Stewart 10 Jordan Forsythe 14 Kirk Millar 12 Jarlath O’Rourke 15 Shayne Lavery 14 Kyle Owens 16 Matthew Clarke 16 Michael Ruddy 17 Daniel Kearns 17 Jordan Owens 18 Stephen Fallon 20 Matthew Snoddy 19 Bastien Hery 21 Jamie Mulgrew 22 Rodney Brown 20 Ryan McGivern 23 Gary Thompson 21 Andrew Mitchell 27 Paul Heatley 22 Daniel Reynolds 28 Harry Robinson 23 Niall Quinn 31 Reece McGinley 24 Chris Casement 47 Ross Clarke 25 Trai Hume 48 Tom Mathieson 28 Charlie Allen 50 Paul McElroy 29 Dale Taylor 52 Gerard Doherty 30 match officials Referee: RAYMOND CRANGLE Assistants: STEPHEN DONALDSON and RICHARD STOREY 4th Official: KEITH KENNEDY Look at Linfield l 04 Today we will face a huge test against a Crusaders team that is sure to be challenging for honours at the end of the season. They are a team packed with big game players who are sure to cause us problems today. We know this is a hugely important period in our season and while we are aware of excitement about upcoming games, we have not been looking beyond today’s immensely difficult challenge against Stephen Baxter’s highly talented squad. We were delighted with our recent wins against Cliftonville (1-0) and Warrenpoint (2-0) and I want to see us maintain this momentum and consistency with more positive performances and results. Our recent wins have been hard fought and well deserved but we are not getting carried away with our pleasing position at the top of the league table, as today’s game only brings us to the half way mark in our league schedule for the season. Kirk Millar will miss the second game in his three match suspension today, after his red card in the recent Cliftonville game. We will also be missing Gareth Deane, Niall Quinn and Mark Stafford today and our medical team are working hard to try and have them fit and available for action soon. On a more positive note, it was pleasing to welcome Jordan Stewart back to action last week in Warrenpoint and Daniel Kearns and Mark Haughey also made welcome returns to the subs bench, after long lay offs due to injury. In Mark’s case, it has been a very long absence of a season and a half, so getting him back in contention for a first team place has required a lot of hard work and patience from Mark and our medical team. I want to wish David Dorrian, his staff and Linfield Swifts’ players every success for the Christmas morning Steel and Sons Cup final against Newington at Seaview. It’s a prestigious occasion in front of an anticipated large crowd and the game will be a great learning experience for our talented young players. If we could win this very special trophy, it would be a major boost for everyone at the club, so the staff and players go into the game with the very best wishes of everyone at the club. It’s a busy and costly period for our supporters who I know have been buying tickets for the upcoming Glentoran, Coleraine and Steel Cup Final games but it’s today’s huge challenge that has been focusing all of our attention and we will need all our supporters fully behind all of our players today, to drive us on to the positive result we all want. In closing, can I take this opportunity to wish all of our supporters, players, staff and directors a very Merry Christmas. We will be doing all that we can on the pitch to make it as happy and blue a Christmas as possible. Look at Linfield l 05 John Robinson Age: 26 Position: Defender the Squad Number: 4 Appearances until the end of 2018-19 season: 61 (including 6 as sub) Goals: 9 player’s Previous clubs: Crusaders and York p... ea presrsponeal cintterivviee w City with a Linfield squad member by Jamie Megarry Look at Linfield l 06 infield defender Josh Robinson has recently returned to action following a six- month injury lay-off and the 26 year-old told ‘Look at Linfield’ earlier this week that he’s delighted to be back involved in the thick of things. L“I am feeling sharp now, it’s been a long time coming. I like to be involved playing and it was hard to sit on the sidelines watching. Hopefully now that I’m back, I am doing the job and giving something to the team. It was hard to watch the European run but the boys were brilliant! It just shows you how good the Irish League is. We were up against top Champions League, European teams, yet a couple of weeks later we got beat by Coleraine, so that just shows you that the Irish League is a great standard. I love playing in it, it’s a great league and it’s very tight this year which is good for the neutral.” Last week, goals from strikers Andy Waterworth and Shayne Lavery gave Linfield a 2-0 win away to Warrenpoint Town. Reflecting on the match, Robinson believes the two strikers getting on the score-sheet is a timely boost, ahead of three big games across the festive period. “I thought we played well. We showed a bit of character to go down to Warrenpoint, as big teams have lost there. Warrenpoint are able to raise their game for the big games, so we were happy to get over the line and get the three points. Our strikers hadn’t been scoring and it had been the back four popping up with the goals but last week, Shayne and Andy got amongst the goals which we were delighted with. They are going to play a big part in the big games coming up and hopefully, they’ll put the ball in the net when it matters.” Looking ahead, the former Crusaders and York City man was feeling positive.