Liverpool stars collaborate with Pittsburgh Steelers as NFL team hails Irish links

Conor Bradley and Caoimhin Kelleher were gifted Pittsburgh Steelers jerseys on Thursday ahead of Liverpool 's first official preseason game against Real Betis on Friday night.

Liverpool is in Pittsburgh, PA for the first game of its U.S. tour, and collaborated with the Steelers due to both teams having strong links to Ireland. In celebration, Bradley of Northern Ireland and Kelleher of the Republic of Ireland were greeted by the Steelers' director of business development and strategy, Dan Rooney III.

Both players received a custom Steelers jersey with their name and current Liverpool roster number. Liverpool is known for having the strongest Irish heritage of any UK city, and thousands of Irish soccer fans are avid supporters of the club and regularly travel to Anfield.

The Steelers are also beneficiaries of Irish heritage, with the Rooney family emigrating to the U.S. in the 1840s. The Rooney family founded the Steelers in 1933 and continues to own and operate the NFL franchise to this day.

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Due to the Irish links, the Steelers continue to prioritize the nation and have even pushed to host an NFL game in Ireland. The Steelers applied for a Global Markets Program license and now states on its official website: "As part of our long-term planning, we aspire to return to the island to play an NFL game."

Ireland already hosts a football game, annually welcoming two college football teams to Dublin. In August the Aviva Stadium will play host to the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, as Georgia Tech faces FSU in a sell-out event.

The NFL continues to grow globally with the international market expanding to Brazil and Spain following the success of games in England, Germany, and Mexico. The appeal of European soccer is also luring in more U.S. fans, with Liverpool set for another successful tour of the nation.

Liverpool is used to playing in the U.S., especially after the club was taken over by Fenway Sports Group. The ownership group led by John Henry also owns MLB team Boston Red Sox and NHL team Pittsburgh Penguins, with speculation increased over the acquisition of an NBA franchise or expansion.

The Reds will play three games in the U.S. before returning to Liverpool, with Betis the first test at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium on Friday. Liverpool will then travel to Philadelphia to face Arsenal at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on July 31.

The final game on the U.S. tour is an epic clash against Manchester United at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina on Aug. 3. Liverpool's final preseason game is at Anfield against Sevilla on Aug. 11, before the new 2024-25 Premier League season begins with an away clash against newly promoted Ipswich Town on Aug. 17.