Ex-NI stars to attend McDonalds fun day

It’s a great chance to receive free football coaching, play fun games and mini tournaments, meet some football heroes and find out how to get involved with their local football club.

Attendees on the day will have the opportunity to meet and learn football skills from Northern Ireland goalkeeping legend and McDonald’s Head of Northern Ireland football Pat Jennings, who was capped a record 119 times.

Guests will also have the chance to meet Jim Magilton, the former Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder who made 52 appearances for Northern Ireland and has recently had management spells with Ipswich and QPR.

The Cool FM roadshow will be further adding to the carnival atmosphere with great music, games, competitions and lots of prizes being given away by DJ Connor Phillips and the roadshow team.

The event is taking place on Sunday 29th August at the Ballymena Showgrounds, running from 1pm until 5pm, and McDonald’s is encouraging members of the public to come along and participate in a day of fun-filled footballing activities.

The Open Day is being carried out in conjunction with McDonald’s Ballymena Mini Soccer League, a local league that McDonald’s Ballymena has supported for the last ten years.

Des Lamph says: “It’s incredible how hard the coaches and support staff have worked through volunteering and giving up their time over the past ten years to support football in the greater Ballymena area.

“This will be a fun day out for all coaches and children that have participated in the league and hopefully it will help some local clubs recruit new players and coaches for the coming season.

“I am particularly excited about being able to provide the local kids with coaching advice from Pat Jennings and Jim Magilton and encouraging them to have a fun time playing the game. I hope that families from the greater Ballymena area and beyond will come to the Showgrounds on 29th August and enjoy a fun family day out,” added Des.