Pictured, Head Coach Stefan Seaton with his Co Antrim side as they celebrate their Junior Section final win in 2017
Antrim Head Coach Stefan Seaton has been involved with the county setup for over 10 years and during his time involved with Antrim, they have enjoyed incredible success at the competition.
Stefan admitted it was tough to pick a best of Antrim XI and said that his selection is based on Antrim’s history in the tournament and said he could easily have selected a best eleven between 2010 and 2020 when Antrim created history by securing two Junior crowns and a Premier title.
Goalkeeper – Declan Dunne – Declan was an outstanding goalkeeper for Antrim. I can still remember he was playing outfield a few months before the tournament and an injury at his club saw him help out in goals. He is now our goalkeeping coach at Antrim and is making great strides with Cliftonville.
Right back – Cormac Lawlor – Cormac will probably go down as one of the greatest players to ever wear the Antrim shirt. He represented our county four years in a row and won it in 2015 with the Premier squad and he also has 2 runners-up medals in the Juniors.
Centre back – Jonny Evans – Jonny is one of the best centre halves in the Premier League and he will go down in history as one of the greatest players to ever play for Northern Ireland. His achievements in the game are incredible and we are all very proud of him.
Centre back – Craig Cathcart – What a centre half partnership we have in our best XI. Like Jonny, Craig played for us in the Junior competition and then went on to play for Manchester United in the Premier section. He’s an established Premier League centre half and he has a great relationship with Jonny in the heart of the Northern Ireland defence.
Left back – Trai Hume – What an outstanding young man and footballer Trai is and he was a joy to work with. He’s making great progress at Linfield and he was another player who won the Junior competition outright and I have no doubt he will pushing his way into the Linfield first team very soon.
Central midfielder – Conor McLaughlin – Conor is now more at home at right back but when he played for us he was excellent in the centre of the park. I wasn’t surprised Michael O’Neill took a chance on Conor in the Euro 2016 qualifiers and he was one of the unsung heroes of that team.
Central midfielder – Steven Davis – Steven played for me at St Andrews and he was a special player. I’d no doubt he would go on to forge a career in the game and he is now the most capped midfielder in international football in the United Kingdom.
Right wing – Ryan McLaughlin – Ryan joins his brother Conor in our best eleven. Ryan was very well thought of going into the tournament and he impressed so much that he secured a deal with Liverpool and was capped by Northern Ireland while still in his teens.
Left wing – Barry Baggley – Barry is another Antrim player who has a Junior section winners’ medal and it is fantastic to see how well he is doing at Fleetwood Town. He is very well liked and indeed rated by Joey Barton and he is already involved with their first team.
Attacking midfielder – Charlie Allen – Charlie is one of our more recent graduates and this summer he is making the move to Leeds United. He was part of our squad that defeated Manchester United in 2018 in the Junior final and his talents didn’t go unnoticed and David Healy had him in the Linfield first team at just 15!
Striker – Ethan Galbraith – Ethan could play anywhere in this team and he has just signed a 3-year deal at Manchester United and last season he made his debut for the first team in the Europa League and got his first cap for Northern Ireland against Luxembourg.
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