Navy and Notre Dame met in the Aviva Stadium in 2012.

Navy and Notre Dame met in the Aviva Stadium in 2012.

AMERICAN COLLEGE FOOTBALL is to return to Ireland for the first time in four years as Navy’s meeting with Notre Dame has been arranged to take place in Dublin in August 2020.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was present at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon to announce a five-game series which will bring teams across the Atlantic to play at the venue.

The Aer Lingus College Football Classic, which last involved Boston College and Georgia Tech in September 2016, will kick off with Navy-Notre Dame on 29 August 2020. The four additional fixtures are yet to be confirmed, but they will take place by the end of 2024.

Organisers predict that the five-game run will be worth €250 million to the economy, with An Taoiseach, saying: “over 35,000 fans traveled to Ireland when Notre Dame and Navy last met in Dublin in 2012 and we will warmly welcome them and many others back for the Aer Lingus College Football Classics.”

While hospitality packages will go on sale over the coming year, fans can’t expect tickets to go on general sale until at least March 2020.

Varadkar said he was happy to extend a warm welcome to our American neighbours and held aloft a football from the previous college football classic in 2012 when the two sides last met on these shores.

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“This is a long-term partnership with US college football,” he said. “We want to see it continue long into the future.

“I believe the series will capture the imagination of football fans in both countries.

Events like these show our capacity to host big international events and put our world-leading hospitality and tourism sector front and centre.”

The two sides will meet this weekend in San Diego, with Notre Dame hot favourites having won their opening seven games of the season.

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