Why Cork City vs Celtic will go down as one of the most historic matches in Irish sport

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Celtic kicked off their pre-season 2025 schedule on Friday evening.

The Hoops beat Queen’s Park 1-0 at The City Stadium in Mount Florida in a match that saw plenty of youngsters feature across both halves.

Johnny Kenny got on the scoresheet with an excellent finish, and now attention turns to the second friendly of the summer against Cork City.

Cork City and Celtic will compete for the Cork Super Cup and the game will be broadcast live on Celtic TV for subscribers.

It may just seem like a glorified friendly for some, perhaps it is. But this game will go down in history for one major reason.

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Cork City vs Celtic the first competitive men’s soccer match at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh

The game will be hosted at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a 45,300 stadium in the city of Cork. It is the third-largest Gaelic games stadium in Ireland.

Almost all of the sporting events held here are Gaelic football clashes, with hurling matches also played here, including the Cork hurling championship.

Soccer and rugby games have also been held at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, but never before has a competitive men’s football match been hosted at the location.

Until tonight when Cork City and Celtic clash in front of thousands of Irish fans for a chance to win some silverware.

Only two soccer matches have been played at the ground previously. The first was a legends charity game between Manchester United and a Republic of Ireland/Celtic XI.

This was a benefit match for the late Liam Miller, who played for both United and Celtic. Miller sadly died of cancer in February that year.

The other game was a women’s Euro 2025 qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and France, with the hosts winning 3-1. This was the first competitive soccer game at the stadium.

What does SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh mean?

Scottish Celtic fans may be wondering what exactly SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh translates to ahead of Cork City vs the Hoops.

The ‘SuperValu’ part is the stadium’s main sponsor. They are a supermarket chain operating across Ireland.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh directly translates to ‘O’Keeffe Park’ in English. It is named after Pádraig Ó Caoimh, who was formerly the general secretary of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).