Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HARRY GAME ONCE AGAIN..
East and West in bid to represent NI against Europe’s amateur elite
HARRY Mcconkey expects Northern Ireland to summon that old underdog spirit when they head off to contest the UEFA Regions Cup next autumn.
It remains to be seen whether that be the East Region – made up of players drawn from the Co Antrim FA and Mid Ulster – or the West – comprised of the Fermanagh and Western and North West associations – with the second leg of the regional qualifier to be played tomorrow night at Armagh’s Holm Park (7.45pm kick-off).
The two sides are tied 2-2 after the opening leg at Bangor Fuels Arena last month, with the prize for the victors the chance to represent Northern Ireland as a junior international, first at a training week in Jersey in May ahead of the Intermediate group stages next September/october against Spain, Serbia and another country yet to be determined.
Naturally, Mcconkey is neutral during this, the qualifying process, but is adamant whoever gets the honour of wearing the green shirt will not be found wanting when the action kicks off.
“We always have that wonderful DNA which is in our make-up where we respond to being underdogs and I find when I put that green shirt on the players, very often they play well above themselves, and that is lovely to see,” he said.
Mcconkey has been involved with the Regions Cup for 15 years now and is proud of the progress he has made, with plenty of highlights along the way.
It’s getting tougher all the time, however. With the Championship going senior, the pool of players he can select from is dwindling, with the stringent criteria for eligibility requiring that all players are over 19, have never signed a pro contract nor ever played in their country’s top flight.
“We’ve gone away and pulled off some great results, we have beaten England, we’ve beaten teams who represented England, Jersey and teams like that,” he said.
“We have pulled off results against France in the past, we drew with Germany 2-2 – we were 2-0 up – and we’ve had the joy of beating Spain in the past also.
“We’ve been pipped for bronze medals on two occasions by a goal and to get to the last eight in Europe three times is quite remarkable,”
Aside from the obvious honour of being selected for the Regions squad, and the fact you are deemed the best of the best at this level, Mcconkey believes his players take away valuable life lessons from their tour of duty.
“To me, it’s largely about relationships and that wonderful thing of people from all walks of our community coming together and going to Europe together, being treated like professional footballers and getting to know each other, but also developing their game,” said the Regions chief.
“They get to see different cultures, to travel, but they also get to know about people from your own country that you are travelling with. You get to respect that and get a different perspective on each other.”
Mcconkey also took time out to pay tribute to his late IFA colleague Craig Stanfield (circled) following his untimely death last month.
“I was deeply affected by Craig Stanfield’s passing. I went to his funeral and it was a very difficult day,” he said.
“I worked with him for 15 years and while we didn’t always agree on budgets and things, he was a brilliant administrator and a great work colleague.
“He was a big support and will be thoroughly missed.”