Bishop Paul Colton of Cork Cloyne and Ross is a serious Manchester United fan. So it was something of a thrill when an intermediary telephoned to say that football star David Beckham and Victoria Adams, better known as Posh Spice, wanted to tie the knot in Ireland with his imprimatur.
The bishop had been rector of Clonsilla and Clondalkin parish, where Luttrellstown Castle is situated outside Dublin, before he moved to Cork to take up his new appointment this year.
The two stars are originally Church of England members but had no difficulty with a wedding in the sister church on this side of the Irish Sea. And Bishop Colton was only too pleased to officiate.
A Manchester United fan? "I am indeed. I treated this as an ordinary wedding, the marriage of two young people in love who wanted to share their lives. I flew to Manchester some months ago - last October in fact - to talk to them, to prepare them as any other couple might be prepared. They said that was exactly what they wanted. Of course, this was a confidential matter from the start, as any other church matter might be involving private lives."
But this was all before Manchester United scored its celebrated treble, and how could anyone, even a Cork bishop, not ask a curver of the ball like Beckham what the prospects were? The bishop did concede there was the "occasional reference" to football during his discussion with the couple.
To avoid the press clamour, the ceremony was performed behind closed doors. When it was over Bishop Colton and his wife, Susan, were guests at the reception. Did he asked him then about the treble?
"No, there was no talk about football, no autograph hunting, or anything like that. It was all very enjoyable, but I really shouldn't go into much more detail." When he got back to Cork yesterday there were 70 calls on his answering machine. Various sections of the media were trying to "nobble" OK magazine - the one that reputedly paid £1 million for exclusive wedding stories and pictures.