Eu Reds: Hapoel Haifa

Continuing our mini-series of continental anniversaries in the midst of Cliftonville’s return to European action, we’re turning the clock back 23 years to a landmark outing on the UEFA stage.

For it was on this very day back in 1996 that the Reds registered no fewer than three milestones in an InterToto Cup Group 1 clash with Hapoel Haifa in Israel.

Trailing 1-0 at the Kiryat Eliezer Stadium, Cliftonville’s first ever European goal came courtesy of Scottish midfielder Shaun Strang, whose strike ensured the Club’s first point in European competition. Further to that – and understandably less celebrated – was the Reds’ first ever dismissal in a European game when Tim McCann was sent off.

Cliftonville: Smyth, McDonagh, Flynn, Tabb, Small, Strang, McCann, O’Neill, O’Connor, Stokes, Donnelly.
Subs: Davey, Rice, Feehan, Collins (for McDonagh).