An unidentified Irish team has made history by reaching their country’s Premier League for the first time in their history and will record their participation in Northern Ireland’s highest football competition in the 2023-24 season.
Lugal FC ended its 16 seasons in the first division after suffering a promotion to the Premier League in 2010, but the club did not receive the necessary license and accreditation from the Football Association of Northern Ireland. to compete in the “League of Lights”.
The “miracle of Lugal”, as described by the Spanish newspaper Marca, is that the team represents a very small town with a population of only 282 people.
Hay edificios with a lot of inhabitants… Solo tiene 282… ¡y su equipo de football in a jugar en primera! https://t.co/C4ZLcesR8m
– Mark (@marca) April 26, 2023
According to the Spanish newspaper, Lugal will be the smallest team on the European continent as a whole in terms of population in the city in which it is located, in contrast to the Turkish city of Istanbul, for example, which has a population of 16 million and includes the oldest clubs: Besiktas ”, “Galatasaray” and “Fenerbahce”, in addition to “Istanbul Basaksehir”, as well as other junior teams.
According to “Marca”, 10% of the city’s population is the strength of the team, with the exception of women, the elderly, children and men over 40 years old.
The team were on the verge of ascending to the Premier League for the 2020-2021 season, but the Corona virus pandemic forced officials in Northern Ireland to end competition early to interrupt Lugal’s post-2010 dreams again.
Source: “Media”