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Football to Forge French Fervour for Scotland
30/10/1998
An idea inspired by two Prime Ministers means young French children will be rubbing shoulders with some of the best footballers in Scotland this weekend.
And today the youngsters were shown round the new state of the art Hampden Park in Glasgow where they were guests at a special reception hosted by Scottish Sports Minister Sam Galbraith.
Prime Minister Tony Blair announced in July, during a visit by French Premier Monsieur Jospin, an initiative to use the World Cup 98 experience to build on UK/French relations.
The project involves inviting children from the towns in France where Scotland and England competed to spend some time with major football clubs in this country during which they will tour the grounds of their host clubs, meet players, take part in coaching sessions and play a match against local teams.
Mr Galbraith said:
"France 98 was the inspiration behind the initiative unveiled by Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Lionel Jospin.
"The success and drama of the World Cup in France demonstrated once again the power of football to bring people together from all backgrounds and cultures.
"We now want to build on the excellent links between football in Scotland and France. I am delighted to extend the hand of friendship to our young guests from France. I hope this visit to Scotland will live almost as long in their memories as their World Cup success and signal the start of ever deeper co-operation between our two countries."
The French town/football club links for Scotland are:
- Celtic with St Etienne
- Rangers with Bordeaux
- Hearts with Paris/St Denis
The French parties depart on Monday, November 2
BACKGROUND
Media wishing further information on activities involving the French children at the three Scottish clubs should contact:
Celtic: Ian Jamieson - telephone 0141 551 4235
Hearts: Douglas Dalgleish - telephone 0131 200 7260
Rangers: Carol Patton - telephone 0141 427 8606
News Release: 2240/98
30 October, 1998