St Patrick's Athletic will host Tottenham Hotspur in Inchicore this summer as they look to gear up for the Uefa Cup qualifying rounds which start in July.
John McDonnell's side, currently second in the eircom Premier League, will welcome Spurs to Richmond Park on July 12th, a week before the Saints begin their Uefa Cup campaign.
The game will come halfway through the current season for Pat's and Director of Football Brian Kerr believes it will be beneficial for the side.
"This will be a really good test for us half way through our season and given the quality of the current Spurs squad it should prove to be a very attractive fixture, not just for our fans but for all football people in Dublin," said the former Republic of Ireland boss.
"Johnny McDonnell and I are conscious of the need to test our squad against the best opposition possible in advance of the Uefa Cup which starts a week later on Thursday July 19th 2007." The draw for that game will be made this Friday afternoon.
Spurs are expected to bring their big names with them, including Ireland captain Robbie Keane, Bulgarian Dmitar Berbatov and England's Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Defoe.
The game will also see Kerr renew acquaintances with his former assistant at national level and Spurs coach Chris Hughton.
Martin Jol's side finished fifth in the Premiership last season and were knocked out of the Uefa Cup in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Sevilla, who beat them 4-3.
Tickets for the game are available from tomorrow and start at €20 for general admission, rising to €35 for a seat in the stand.
Pat's chairman Garrett Kelleher said today that the stadium is now better equipped to deal with such a fixture and thanked Longford Town for agreeing to move their league match to facilitate the fixture.
"We have done a certain amount of work on the facilities at Richmond Park and while, longer term, we intend to refurbish the whole stadium, we are better positioned now to host such an exciting fixture.
"The FAI has facilitated us by moving our home League fixture with Longford Town from Friday 13th to Sunday July 15th. We are grateful to them and to Longford for their co-operation."
