When Glenmuir FC’s Darryl O’Kane took to facebook asking if anybody fancied a game of football he probably didn’t expect to end up playing against a Champions League and World Cup finalist that evening.
But that’s exactly what happened last Thursday evening when former Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann put on his football boots and played for an hour with shocked locals at Glenmuir’s football pitch.
Darryl’s father Tony, said the unexpected visit came about thanks to former Glenmuir player Alan Clarke who currently works with Stat Sports.
“Alan works with a crowd called Stat Sports who are used by the German National team. So he was up at the Aviva last week as Germany trained for their match with Ireland and he got talking to Jens and asked him would he like to come down to Dundalk for a couple of hours.
“Alan brought him up to our club here in Glenmuir and he chatted with us for a while before putting on his boots and playing with the lads for near an hour. The boys were a bit stunned to see Jens coming out but they were thrilled to play with such a big star of the game” explained Tony.
Lehmann also found time to call around to call around to Clan na Gael football club on Thursday evening visiting the team as they prepared for yesterday’s Intermediate club final against O’Connells. As Maurice Harrisson, PRO for the Clans, explains the visit wasn’t planned and again came about through Alan Clarke.
“Alan is a former Clans player and he convinced Jens to call around to the boys on Thursday evening to give them a few words of advice for Sunday’s final. He spoke to the lads for about fifteen minutes telling them to keep focused and how to cope with the pressure of big games. He had a pint of Guinness with us and signed autographs and posed for photos and all that. It was a bit surreal but it was great to meet him and we’d all like to thank Alan for making it happen” added Maurice.
