Singing the Blues in Kabul

Gerry Marks, a former Glenavon director whose work has taken him to Afghanistan, is hoping to have the Irish Cup final beamed to his laptop on Saturday.

The 60-year-old from Moira, who celebrates his birthday on the day of the match, tunes in to Radio Ulster every week to follow the fortunes of Glenavon.

Gerry has been working in Afghanistan since 2006. Such is his passion for the Mourneview Aces that he’s encouraged some of the locals into supporting the Lurgan Blues.

He said: “My roommate over here is a Ballymena man, and since both teams have reached the final, we have had some gentle banter between the two of us.”

With that in mind Gerry posted a video on Facebook of members of the Kabul GSC. In it they send their best wishes to Gary Hamilton and one man chants “Go on blue”.

Gerry said: “The video has mushroomed beyond belief and it appears everybody is talking about it.

“The locals definitely know their football. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man Utd and Liverpool are their favourites. However, Glenavon now rate along these teams and they wait to see my face on Sunday to see how Glenavon did the previous day.”