In this client-created video, Michael O’Neill and David Currie from the Irish Football Association, the governing body for football in Northern Ireland, share why they’re proud of their partnership with BCD Sports. With 25 years of sports travel experience, BCD Sports creates custom experiences for teams, fans, contributors and more. As part of BCD Meetings & Events, BCD Sports offers an unrivaled network of specialists in 170+ countries to help your vision become a reality. For more information about BCD Sports, visit https://bcdme.com/what-we-do/bcd-sports/.
Video transcript:
IFA voiceover: The Irish Football Association is the governing body for football in Northern Ireland. We are one of the oldest in world football and our role is to promote, foster and develop football for all across the country. We are proud of our partnership with BCD Sports.
Michael O’Neill, manager of the Northern Ireland senior men’s football team: That’s extremely important in terms of the preparation of the team. Logistics is always challenging when you move as a team, as an international team, because I think people underestimate the amount that you travel with. Obviously, the equipment that’s needed, the number of staff that’s needed around a football team. And BCD have been fantastic in this campaign in particular. My first opportunity to work with them and they really are at real value in that area.
David Currie, head of International Administration: I started with BCD initially on a trial basis and started 2020, and since then we’ve worked with them ever since with the senior team. They’re very professional and very friendly and easy to work with, which is very important too, and always willing to go the extra mile.
Michael O’Neill: Our ability just to move quickly through the airports, to get checked in quickly, for the travel and the plane to be of a high standard. And just the fact that if there are any hitches or problems, as a coach or a manager you don’t want to know about them. And we haven’t had that. We haven’t had any concerns or any major issues that haven’t been dealt with. And BCD have handled everything extremely professionally.
David Currie: It’s a lot of steps going and a lot of preparation involved in the senior internationals. We’d pick hotels, we look at all the infrastructure and look at potential growing transportation, etc. They’ve obviously got a lot of experience in this field. They’ve dealt with teams before. They’ve dealt with big teams before, and that’s always helpful. They have a lot of staff around as well, which is good with a key contact for us, which is very important.
Michael O’Neill: The first thing is building that relationship and they’ve been great. They’ve been very personable with all the staff, all the key decision makers in this process. And they know the standards that we expect and they bring a level of professionalism which we have benefited from as well. And you know, going forward, as I say, I think it’ll be a very good partnership.