Preparations for this year’s Dale Farm Milk Cup are well underway with young aspiring footballers looking forward for the opportunity to participate in one of Europe’s most famous Youth Football Tournaments.
The tournament, while attracting some of the most famous Club teams from all over the world, provides an important platform for local Northern Ireland players to pit their skills against these visiting players.
Northern Ireland representation at the Premier and Junior levels of the tournament is based on selected teams from the six Counties and the Tournament Organising Committee has confirmed that this year’s 33rd edition of the Milk Cup in the Premier Section is for players born on or after 1st January 1998, while players in the Junior Section must have been born on or after 1st January 2000.
In order for a player to be eligible to play for a particular County, the player’s parents place of residence must be within the boundary of the County for which he wants to play. The County boundary is that which is shown on the Northern Ireland Ordnance Survey map. Tournament organisers have stressed that post codes are not used when determining the eligibility of the player for a County.
The six County Committees have now formulated their programme for the selection of teams. Aspirant players and their parents are encouraged to contact the appropriate County to make themselves aware of those plans.
Contacts for the six County Committees are:
County Antrim: Lawrence Anderson …. la25@btinternet.com
County Armagh: Dean McCullough …. info@kitchenbakes.co.uk
County Down: Paul Ritchie …. paulritchie91@hotmail.com
County Fermanagh: Sam Gamble …. wsgamble88@gmail.com
County Londonderry: David Reid …. chairman@countylondonderryfa.com or 07936080223
County Tyrone: Andrew Kelly …. andrewkelly902@btinternet.com
The 2015 Dale Farm Milk Cup Tournament kicks off on Sunday 26th July with the Opening Ceremony and Welcome Parade, which takes place in Coleraine, while the Milk Cup Finals take place on Friday 31st July in Ballymena Showgrounds.