Glasgow Celtic to meet AS Roma at SkyDome in exhibition game
July 31
By Neil Davidson
TORONTO (CP) -- Glasgow Celtic will play AS Roma at SkyDome on
July 31, organizers confirmed Thursday.
The exhibition soccer game is the lone Canadian stop on the 2004
ChampionsWorld Series, which also includes European powerhouses
Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool, AC Milan and Manchester United.
FC Porto has also been confirmed as part of the tour, with
details on their games to follow.
The current nine-game tour, which runs from July 24 to Aug. 3,
also includes stops in Chicago, East Rutherford, N.J., East
Hartford, Conn., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.
Organizers plan to cover SkyDome's artificial turf with a
temporary natural grass pitch.
Workers will start installing the grass as soon as the Blue Jays
and New York Yankees wrap up a three-game series on July 28.
"The crew will move into the SkyDome and start the process
virtually the minute the game ends," Rich Schneider, a spokesman
for promoter ChampionsWorld, said Thursday from Moonachie, N.J.
"It doesn't take quite so long to install the grass but the
grass needs a little bit of time to settle and knit. It needs to be
rolled out. It just needs to be babied a bit before it's 100 per
cent."
The Jays are back home Aug. 2 so there is only a small window
available at SkyDome.
The domed stadium has been home to soccer before. It housed the
SkyDome Cup in 1995, a three-team tournament featuring Canada,
Denmark and Portugal played on artificial turf.
Other venues with artificial surfaces will also get a temporary
natural grass pitch. Organizers did the same thing last year at
Seattle's Seahawks Stadium and Giants Stadium in East Rutherford,
N.J.
The 2003 ChampionsWorld Series drew 420,000 fans to eight games
in seven U.S. cities. Teams that took part were Barcelona, Boca
Juniors, Celtic, Club America, Juventus, Manchester United and AC
Milan.
This summer's series opens July 24 with Chelsea taking on Celtic
in Seattle and concludes Aug. 3 at Giants Stadium in East
Rutherford, with Roma playing Liverpool.
Manchester United will play Bayern Munich in Chicago on July 25
to open its pre-season U.S. tour, then will take on Celtic in
Philadelphia three days later before closing against AC Milan on
July 31 at East Rutherford.
The Red Devils will use the Philadelphia Eagles' training base as
their tournament home.
Chelsea will use the Pittsburgh Steelers' training complex as its
home base.
After playing Celtic in Seattle, the Blues take on Roma in
Pittsburgh on July 29 and AC Milan in Philadelphia on Aug. 2.
Liverpool also plays Celtic in East Hartford on July 26.
Organizers said previously that Celtic would be based in Boston.
Tickets for the Toronto game will go on sale March 30 at noon EST
through Ticketmaster outlets. Pricing information will be available
at a future date.
Tickets for other contests will also be available March 30, with
the exception of the Aug. 3 Roma-Liverpool game in East Rutherford.
Tickets for that game will go on sale April 13.
Fans can reserve tickets to the games involving Manchester United
and Celtic before they go on sale by signing up for ChampionsWorld
membership -- at an annual cost of $45 US.
For information about the series, go to
www.championsworld.com.
Schedule
Saturday, July 24: Chelsea vs. Celtic at Seahawks Stadium,
Seattle.
Sunday, July 25: Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich at Soldier
Field, Chicago.
Monday, July 26: Liverpool vs. Celtic at Rentschler Field, East
Hartford, Conn.
Wednesday, July 28: Manchester United vs. Celtic at Lincoln
Financial Field, Philadelphia.
Thursday, July 29: AS Roma vs. Chelsea at Heinz Field,
Pittsburgh.
Saturday, July 31: Manchester United vs. AC Milan at Giants
Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
Saturday, July 31: Celtic vs. AS Roma at SkyDome, Toronto.
Monday, Aug. 2: Chelsea vs. AC Milan at Lincoln Financial
Field, Philadelphia.
Tuesday, Aug. 3: AS Roma vs. Liverpool at Giants Stadium, East
Rutherford, N.J.