Sit Down and Shut Up – A Short Film on the time when Limerick FC welcomed Real Madrid to town

A new short film about Limerick FC’s European Cup tie against Real Madrid in 1980 is being premiered at this weeks Galway Film Fleadh.

It details one of the great days for the game in Limerick when they were enjoying one of their most successful periods.

Dingle native Cian O’Connor directed the film, it’s produced by Peter Kilmartin and funded by the Limerick Arts Bursary.

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The game is remembered for the controversy about the venue.

‘While many in Limerick wanted the game to be played in their home ground Market’s Field, due to concerns about crowd control the match was moved to Landsdowne Road. For this reason, many locals decided to boycott the game instead of traveling to Dublin. As a result, the 30,000 predicted attendance turned out to only be a measly 6,000.’

O’Connor says that that ‘Sit Down and Shut Up‘ aims to encapsulate ‘the spirit of Limerick and its people’.

There are interviews with a few Limerick soccer legends like Kevin Fitzpatrick & Des Kennedy, as well as locals such as publican JJ O’Dea and Gary Spain.

As well as featuring in the Galway Film Fleadh, it’ll also be going on a national film festival run and there’s a YouTube release in the pipeline.

To buy a ticket to see the film, follow this link – https://galwayfilmfleadh.eventive.org/films/60d6659ebcbcb400a02d835b