Top UK academies set for Sligo Super Cup 2019
TWO of Britain’s top soccer academies have confirmed they’ll be competing in the third annual Sligo Super Cup next April.
In a major boost for the popular under-12 international tournament, English Championship club Leeds United and Scotland’s Premiership hot shots Aberdeen, will be sending the cream of their talented youngsters to compete alongside six other top academy teams for the coveted title.
The high quality of these teams – both have featured successfully in major European tournaments in recent years – will elevate the standard of the Sligo Super Cup to unprecedented levels.
Leeds and Aberdeen will join holders, Dublin&District Schoolboys League (DDSL) and last year’s beaten finalists, Derby County, in what is shaping up to be the best ever line up for the tournament. The local Sligo/Leitrim Schoolboys League as well as three other major academies from across Ireland, yet to be confirmed, will complete the list.
Aberdeen’s Head of Academy Coaching, Gavin Levey, is excited about the prospect of his talented crop of youngsters pitting their wits against the best the Super Cup has to offer. The club’s under-12’s have already been to elite tournaments in England and Holland this year, recording highly impressive victories against the likes of Ajax and Feyenord.
“This is a very well travelled group who have clocked up some really impressive performances. It’s our policy as part of our development programme to give the youngsters as many opportunities as we can against top class opposition, so we’re really looking forward to the challenges which await us in Sligo,” Gavin confirms.
In all, the Aberdeen academy has up to 100 young players from under-10 to under-16 grades. Among its coaching staff is Dubliner Robbie Hedderman, who spent a season with Sligo Rovers in 2004, and Neil Simpson, who was a member of the famous Pittodrie team which won the European Cup Winners Cup and European Super Cup under Alex Ferguson in 1983.
Gavin says the academy is proud of the number of players it has produced for the first team over the years. Bournemouth’s highly rated Scottish international Ryan Fraser came through the academy, as did the current Scottish under-21 skipper, Scott McKenna, who is attracting the attention of some of the big English clubs. Aberdeen’s youngest ever Premiership player, Dean Campbell, who made his debut against Celtic two years ago when aged just 16, is another academy graduate.
“We don’t like to get ahead of ourselves, but we are a very progressive and well regarded academy, and the number of players who have gone on to make careers in senior football is a reflection of the good work we do here.
“The lads going to Sligo next year would all be very focussed and ambitious, and they’ll be well prepared. It will be a great experience for us,” Gavin adds.
The Leeds United academy, meanwhile, will come with similar ambition. One of the longest established and prestigious soccer nurseries In England, they send young teams all over the world and will relish the challenge of facing top British and Irish teams in Sligo.
Sligo-born RTE soccer pundit, Alan Cawley (pictured), knows all about the high standards of the Leeds youth set-up, having spent two years there as a teenager. “It’s an incredible set-up,” Alan reports. “When I was there the academy was already well ahead of most other big clubs. We had our accommodation on the training campus, there were full education facilities, we wanted for nothing. So I’m sure those same high standards still pertain and the young lads coming to Sligo to represent the club will be extremely well prepared.”
Alan recalls that he struggled with home sickness when he first went to England as a 16 years old, and actually returned to Sligo before his father persuaded him to give it another go. “It was tough for me initially – I had never been out of Sligo before going to Leeds. But the people at the club were brilliant. They were very understanding and patient, which illustrates the way the academy is run. First class in every possible way,” he says.
Having attended last year’s Sligo Super Cup, Alan is very enthusiastic about the opportunity it gives to young local players to challenge themselves against top visiting clubs.
“When I was with Merville as a young lad I remember we had to go to Norwich for a game. Now, because of the Super Cup, young players are getting the opportunity to play against really big clubs in their home town at a League of Ireland venue. It’s terrific.
“Getting clubs like Leeds and Aberdeen to come over is a huge boost for the tournament, but their participation gives our own young lads the chance to prove that they are every bit as good as the youngsters at major clubs,” Alan adds.
Tournament Director, Packie Lynch, is delighted to be able to add high profile clubs such as Leeds and Aberdeen to the exciting mix for Super Cup ’19.
“From day one, our objective was to grow the tournament year on year, and I believe we have achieved that aim. With Leeds and Aberdeen joining Derby County and the DDSL, next year’s tournament looks like being the best ever.
“To host such famous clubs in Sligo is both an honour and a challenge, but we are really looking forward to putting on a memorable festival of football,” he enthuses.
The Sligo Super Cup takes place from April 26th to 28th, 2019 at Sligo Showgrounds.