National Stadium at Windsor Park Tour
It’s well known that we have a long-standing relationship with the IFA – let’s be honest – our Official Northern Ireland Team Coach is pretty hard to hide!
When the IFA got in touch and asked us to come in for a tour of the stadium we jumped at the chance! It’s a proper behind the scenes look at how the Stadium operates.
The tour kicked off (sorry, we couldn’t resist the pun) with an introduction from our fantastic guide Norman. He welcomed us to the Stadium and showed us the actual “British Home Championship” trophy that has pride of place at the start of the tour. Northern Ireland won the tournament in 1914, 1980 & 1984 – the last year that the tournament was played – meaning they are the remaining Champions to this day!
We then entered the Education and Heritage Centre and got to see lots of really interesting exhibits, but also got to take part in a virtual penalty shoot-out! There were some really fun interactive features too, including tips from NI ladies international Marissa Callaghan, a model of Windsor Park throughout the changing times, a mould of Pat Jennings huge hands and a really cool selfie booth that sent you a free selfie in a virtual crowd!
We left the education centre and then went behind the scenes – the part we had really been looking forward to! First stop was the “Malcolm Brodie Media Centre”, where all media are stationed during international matches. Then, it was behind the desk that the Manager sits at for the gruelling press conferences, but the absolute highlight was the changing rooms. The NI changing room is fantastic, with all of the shirts hanging up ready for use, the players name cards above them, ice baths, and special indoor warm up area. Norman told us lots of fun facts about the referee call button to get the teams to line up to go onto the pitch, how the players get 2 full kits each for every game, and about how many pairs of boots each player brings to a game!
The actual pitch, and seating is fantastic too. It’s far from one of the biggest national stadiums, but there is something special about this one! It took us 2 hours to do the full tour, and it was 2 hours well spent. We came away feeling that we really had seen so much more of the stadium than what we had ever seen before, and that we had gotten a real taste of what international players do in the run up to a game. There is so much to see, and no matter whether you’re a football fan, planning an outing for a kid’s trip or party, or just want to see inside this famous stadium, it is an absolute must see.
Tickets for these tours will soon be available to purchase on this website at can now be bought at our Kiosk in Victoria Square. We also have packages where you can hire the Official Team Coach to transport you and your group to the Stadium for the tour. Please contact our office on 028 9086 6162 for further information.