Manchester United will face the San Jose Earthquakes at California Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, July 21, a return trip to Berkeley for the Guinness International Champions Cup North America, it was announced today. The soccer match follows last summer’s sold-out contest between Real Madrid and Inter Milan, which drew 62,583 fans of “the beautiful game” to the American-style football arena.
The tournament’s promoters, Relevent Sports, said last year that UC Berkeley’s $321 million renovation of the World War I-era showpiece was key to choosing Memorial Stadium as a venue for the 2014 event, which in 2015 is expanding from eight teams to 10, playing a total of 17 matches between July 11 and Aug. 15. The Berkeley match pits the Bay Area’s hometown soccer team, the ‘Quakes, against one of the world’s most recognizable clubs in Manchester United.
“We are excited to have an opportunity to build on the success of last year’s sold-out match by hosting two world-renowned soccer clubs at the world’s leading public university,” said John Wilton, Berkeley’s vice chancellor for administration and finance. “Not only will it give us a chance to share our beautiful campus with fans and families from across Northern California, it will have a positive economic impact on the city of Berkeley and generate revenue to support our athletics programs and core mission of excellence and access in teaching and research.”
Since its inception in 2013, the Champions Cup has attracted more than a million fans to venues around the world, and has been seen by some 700 million households on television. This year the tournament will expand to Asia and Australia.
Kickoff time for the Berkeley match is 8 p.m. Exclusive presale tickets for pre-qualified fans will be available beginning Wednesday May 27, with general public tickets available beginning Friday, May 29, at 9 a.m. through Cal Athletics. Fans can sign up at International Champions Cup website for access to the presale.
For more details,, visit the Cal Athletics website.