The Galway Cup is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

National Youth Tournament held annually in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The tournament takes place in Salthill Devon F.C.'s

Drom Soccer Park Drom Soccer Park is an association football venue in the Republic of Ireland based in Drom East, Rahoon, County Galway. It is the home ground of Salthill Devon F.C. It was built in 2002 and has a capacity of 2,000. Drom also hosts the Galway C ...

venue.

History

The competition began in the summer of 2005 in a bid to bring the international football scene to Ireland. Over 40 teams representing seven nations participated in the inaugural tournament. Academy teams of such football clubs as

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

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Shelbourne F.C. Shelbourne Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Shíol Bhroin) is an Irish association football club based in Drumcondra, Dublin, who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Shelbourne were founded in Dublin in 1895. In 1904 the club join ...

Fulham F.C. Fulham Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, which compete in the . They have played home games at Craven Cottage since 1896, other than a two-year period spent at Loftus Road whilst Craven Cottage unde ...

, Sheffield United F.C.,

Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

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Aberdeen F.C. Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

, Leicester City F.C., Ipswich Town F.C.,

Derry City F.C. Derry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of league football in the Republic of Ireland, and is the League of Ireland ...

Glentoran F.C. Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

MŠK Žilina MŠK Žilina () is a Slovak football club based in the town of Žilina, that is playing in the Slovak Superliga. Since the league inception in 1993, the club has won 7 titles and comes second in All-time table that makes them one of the most ...

, Cherry Orchard F.C. and also Football Association of Ireland youth selection have competed. The tournament includes age groups from Under-11 to Under-17 and there is a group for a girls' Under-15 tournament. Now the youth competition has gone from strength to strength and is recognized as one of the best youth tournaments in Europe. The tournament highlights are broadcast on

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...

Past winners

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

External links

Tournament history

Official Website
{{Association football cup competitions in Ireland Youth football competitions Association football in County Galway Association football cup competitions in the Republic of Ireland Youth association football in the Republic of Ireland Salthill Devon F.C. Association football cup competitions in Connacht