South Bend football: Chelsea F.C., Celtic F.C. to play at Notre Dame Stadium

A different style of football is coming to Notre Dame Stadium. The university announced Monday that the home of the Fighting Irish will play host to a soccer match between Chelsea F.C. of the English Premier League and Celtic F.C. of the Scottish Premiership on July 27.

Notre Dame Stadium was the site of a similar head-to-head between Liverpool F.C. of the Premier League and Borussia Dortmund of Bundesliga on July 19, 2019. Dortmund won, 3-2, in front of 40,361 in attendance. Pete Bevacqua, who takes over as Notre Dame’s director of athletics for Jack Swarbrick on March 25, said he’s shooting for much more than that this year.

“We think we’ll get, hopefully, at least 70,000 people,” Bevacqua said. “With what the stadium capacity is, hopefully we can do more than 70,000. But we’ll drum up excitement. Hopefully we’ll have a beautiful day in July. I think we’ll pack the stadium. That’s our intent. That’s our hope. And, certainly, our expectation.”

The renowned venue nicknamed “The House That Rockne Built” after legendary former Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne has an official capacity of 77,622, which was nearly met on Jan. 1, 2019, when the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks squared off in the NHL’s Winter Classic. A crowd of 76,126 was on hand to witness the Bruins’ 4-2 victory. Four days later, the Michigan Wolverines hockey team defeated that of Notre Dame by the same score in front of 23,422 supporters.

Chelsea vs. Celtic might not match the spectator count of the Winter Classic, but it could draw quite a bit of interest. The former is one of the most popular teams in the Premier League with history dating back to the club’s creation in 1905. Chelsea currently sits 11th in the Premier League table, which consists of 20 teams. The club last won a Premier League title in 2016-17 to cap a span of two championships in three seasons.

Former Chelsea midfielder Roberto Di Matteo lauded the pitch The Blues and Bhoys In Green will play on this summer.

“The facilities here are incredibly good,” Di Matteo said. “Every pro team in Europe could only wish to have such facilities that you have here at the university. I think the athletes here are very fortunate. What struck me was how big it is but the sort of atmosphere you could generate in a stadium like that because it’s like a bowl and you’re close to the action.”

Celtic, meanwhile, was founded in 1887. The Celts are typically the class of the Scottish Premiership having won 11 of the last 12 league titles. They currently sit at the top of the 12-team table through 30 matches in the 2023-24 season. They’re leading Rangers by one point, 71-70, with an overall record of 22 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses.

Former Celtic defender Roy Aitken echoed Di Matteo’s statement about Notre Dame Stadium.

“It’s an honor, to be honest, to come over here and play in such a fantastic stadium,” Aitken said.

Bevacqua said Chelsea vs. Celtic is an appropriate pairing on Notre Dame’s campus because the Fighting Irish have as international of a presence with its athletics programs as any school in the country, and there is a standard of success that comes with the Notre Dame brand as well.

“When you talk about Chelsea Football Club and Celtic Football Club, that history of success, that history of championships, nothing less than championships is expected, and that’s what we have here at Notre Dame,” Bevaqua said. “We know that so well, for all of our sports. Certainly, every time we go into that stadium and play another school on the football field we want to win. That’s the Notre Dame way. That’s the expectation. That’s what we expect, and I know that’s what these two great football clubs expect as well.

“So I think it’s a great coming together of these mini cultures. And to have a different sport come into Notre Dame Stadium, two football clubs with such great history and such great fan bases — much like us — … these are two fan bases that have such international appeal.”