Boss hails Phil tribute

Jun 26 2008 by Andrew McGilvray

MOTHERWELL manager Mark McGhee this week hailed the club’s decision to rename their main stand in honour of Phil O’Donnell, and said it’s second only to renaming Fir Park.

And the Steelmen boss is delighted that Spanish giants Villarreal will play in a friendly against his side following the renaming ceremony on Saturday, August 2.

McGhee feels it’s ideal preparation for the club’s tilt at the UEFA Cup, which is set to kick-off on September 18.

Mark said: “Renaming the stand after Phil is a brilliant tribute; John Boyle, Bill Dickie and the rest of the board deserve enormous credit for being as generous as that.

“It really is the top honour other than renaming Fir Park after him.

“It’s a fantastic tribute; Villarreal are of a really high standard and are a Champions’ League team – it’s as good as we could have asked for.”

He added: “I think for us and the players as well it’s such an excellent game to play, against a team of that quality.

“We’ll be able to see how good they are, how good we are, and how we can aspire to be like that.

“It’s fantastic that we have such high-calibre opposition.

“It’s a great test for us, particularly because we’re in the UEFA Cup; if we can get past the first round we’ll be up against four teams who will cause us all sorts of problems, and at least one of them will be like Villarreal.

“By that point we will already have played against them, plus CFR Cluj and FC Zlin in Austria, and that should set us up beautifully.”

Half of the proceeds from the showpiece game will be donated to an educational trust which has been set up by the club for the O’Donnells’ children.

Motherwell chairman John Boyle said: “We are very pleased that Villarreal, who are an outstanding European team and a great club, accepted our invitation to play at Fir Park in this pre-season match.

“It will be an emotional day for everyone associated with Motherwell as we will be renaming the main stand after Phil, and we hope our fans will turn out in their thousands again to salute Phil and see us play against superb opposition.”

Phil’s brother James commented: “It’s a great honour for the main stand to be named after Phil, and we appreciate deeply everything that has been done for Eileen and the children by ordinary football supporters, and by the club as well.”

Motherwell’s Austrian friendlies against CFR Cluj and FC Zlin take place on July 16 and 18, respectively.

The club has also organised home friendlies against Wolves (July 23), Bradford City (July 26), and Preston North End (July 30).