I stood outside the Oval, a place I have so many fond memories of, heartbroken, watching friends of mine going into watch a game that had it have been on any other day I may have been going to watch myself. But as a Christian I believe that the Bible teaches that Sunday (the Christian Sabbath) is a day to be treated different to other days. God has given me 6 days to enjoy and participate in football but asks that I give 1 day to HIM. I stood outside the Oval simply to show my disappointment at this development in Irish league Football. If that makes me a Bible thumping bigot in some peoples eyes, then so be it, but I think it says more about them than it does about me!

Why was there a protest at the Oval when there are so many other sporting events taking place on Sunday? I would have thought the answer would be obvious. Why were all the press there? Sunday was an historic day, a watershed for football in Northern Ireland and for that reason I and others felt we wanted to show our disapproval at events. Some of those protesting have a very keen interest in football. In fact Rev McIlveen who has been castigated on this site actually played with George Best at youth level and was invited to Old Trafford at the same time as George. Other ministers present would watch local Irish league games from time to time. Some of the others there are involved in various ways with local football. We live in a free society, so just as fans had the right to go into the game, we had the right to make a peaceful, dignified protest outside.

I ask you why the rule of no Sunday football was there in the first place. There was a time in this province that society respected God’s moral law and that is why the IFA had the rule reflecting there was no appetite for Sunday football. Society has changed, The IFA has changed and we now have an appetite as witnessed on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean Christians have to like it or should not demonstrate their opposition to it!

There are 100’s of Evangelical Christians involved in local football making a valuable contribution as players, managers, coaches, refs, and supporters. If the trend to move to Sundays is continued, many of these people will be pushed out of the local game in the future. Young players will forget about pushing for an Irish League career if they feel they will be asked to compromise their religious beliefs. Will these things be good for our local game?

We now have Sunday football and also a situation that if you want to attain any IFA coaching badges you must attend on Sundays. Much is made of the fact that football is “for all” in the province but it seems it is “for all” unless you are a Bible Believing Christian. That is disappointing.