Uefa Super Cup: Irish FA chief Nelson says Chelsea-Villarreal game 'fantastic opportunity' for Northern Ireland

A crowd of 13,000 fans will be able to watch Wednesday's Uefa Super Cup final between Chelsea and Villareal at Belfast's Windsor Park

Irish FA chief executive Patrick Nelson says Wednesday's Uefa Super Cup Final between Chelsea and Villarreal at Windsor Park represents a "fantastic opportunity for Northern Ireland".

The game will be broadcast live in over 200 countries while 13,000 fans will be in the stadium to watch the contest.

"This is going to be a great advert for our country," added the Irish FA chief.

"This is the season kick-off as far as Uefa are concerned. It doesn't get any bigger for us."

With the contest seeing Champions League winners Chelsea in action against Unai Emery's Europa League winners, Nelson believes the Belfast occasion will result in lasting positive effects for football in Northern Ireland.

'Uefa have upped our game' - Nelson

"Uefa have taken this to another level," added the Irish FA chief.

"They've upped our game. They've taught us things - hopefully we've taught them a few things as well - and it really is going to be a fabulous event because Uefa's standards are so high.

"What people will see is a place that has been branded superbly both with Uefa branding and Chelsea and Villarreal branding. Uefa have looked at every single space and put their mark on it.

"We've upgrading the pitch. We've upgraded the 4G surrounds. It's going to look fantastic."

The 500 guests will mean by far the biggest event staged in terms of hospitality by the Irish FA at the National Stadium with those in attendance including Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin plus Croatian football legends Davor Suker and Zvonimir Boban.

Boban was appointed as Uefa's first ever chief of football in April while his former international team-mate Suker's nine-year stint as president of his country's football federation ended last month.

Irish FA chief executive Patrick Nelson hopes Wednesday's staging of the Uefa Super Cup could help lead to meaningful numbers of fans also returning for Northern Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Switzerland next month

Irish FA chief Nelson, who says Wednesday's event will generate the kind of positive public relations for Belfast that the MTV Music Awards did for the city in 2011, believes a successful occasion will also advance the prospects of a meaningful crowd being allowed to attend Northern Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Switzerland on 8 September.

"We're certainly hoping for that.

"We'll learn a lot from Wednesday evening. We've got senior men's internationals and senior women's internationals coming up. NIFL are kicking their Premiership in the very near future.

"All of us will learn from this and all of us hopefully bring safe and sensible crowds back pretty soon."

Windsor Park will be at 70% capacity on Wednesday which will mean 13,000 spectators - representing the biggest attendance at a sporting event in Northern Ireland since before the first lockdown in March 2020.

That decision was made after talks between the Irish FA, Uefa and the NI Executive, who also reached an agreement that travelling Villarreal fans would not have to self-isolate.

All spectators will be asked to show proof of double vaccination or provide a negative Covid-19 test on entry.