Manchester United set for Republic of Ireland training camp in early April

Manchester United will go to the Republic of Ireland for a four-day training camp at the start of April.

The club will use it as an opportunity for an intense period of training away from their Carrington base from April 6 to April 9 to prepare for the Premier League run-in. United will be based around 30 minutes outside the capital, Dublin.

Michael Carrick’s in-form side, who are third in the Premier League, have seven games remaining and are aiming to remain in the Champions League qualification places, which is likely to be the top five in the division.

Due to the international break and their failure to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals, United are in a 24-day gap between last Friday’s 2-2 draw at Bournemouth and their next fixture, the visit of Leeds United on Monday, April 13. With only 40 domestic games, after an early Carabao Cup exit as well, and no European football this term, United had looked into playing mid-season friendlies before deciding against it.

This will not be the first time that the club have travelled to Ireland mid-season. In 1963, to escape freezing England, United travelled to Ireland to train and play, as did other clubs. After signing from Celtic, legendary midfielder Paddy Crerand made his United debut against Bolton Wanderers in Cork on February 13 of that year. Roy Keane’s father Mossy was at the game as a supporter and told Crerand that he got the sack for taking the afternoon off work to attend it.

United also played Coventry City in Dublin on February 2 and a Dublin XI in the same city on February 19 as the weather meant the first team did not play a game between December 26 and February 23.