It will be a two-in-a-row this summer for the revamped Salthill Fives soccer tournament with the event set to draw thousands of people to the seaside venue over the June Bank Holiday weekend.

The competition – which dates back to 1977 – returned last June after a seven-year break and drew huge crowds to Salthill village on what was a glorious weekend of scorching weather.

A food village experience, a wellness centre and a healthy heart testing and advice clinic will again be part of the weekend’s activities which run from 10am on the Saturday morning of June 1 through to the following Sunday evening.

Organised by the Salthill-Devon soccer club, the weekend will also feature a special skills academy for younger children, while in the main men’s competition 64 teams will be taking part.

Salthill Devon FC Chairman, Pete Kelly, told the Galway City Tribune that the return of last year’s event had been a huge success not only for the club but for the entire Salthill area.

“It brought huge crowds to Salthill and the ancillary events like the food village, the Croí area and the wellness centre proved to be very popular with all the visitors.

“This is a big event for Salthill village and once again we are anticipating a massive turnout over the first two days of June.

“We were blessed too last year with a wonderful spell of weather and anyone who attended last year had great memories of the weekend,” said Mr Kelly.

(Photo: The organising committee at the launch of the Ground Co, Salthill Fives, at Seven Bar, from left. Eugene Greaney, Alan Belton, Rory Guckian, Paddy Hogan, Mikey Gilmore and Pete Kelly).
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