SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of Northern Ireland, with matches taking place in the towns of

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, ...

Portstewart Portstewart () is a small town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,003 people in the 2011 Census. It is a seaside resort neighbouring Portrush. Its harbour and scenic coastal paths form an Atlantic promenade lead ...

Castlerock Castlerock is a seaside village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is five miles west of Coleraine, and part of Causeway Coast and Glens district. It is very popular with summer tourists, with numerous apartment blocks and two caravan ...

, Limavady, Coleraine,

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated i ...

, Ballymena and

Broughshane Broughshane ( , formerly spelt Brughshane, ) is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northeast of Ballymena and north of Antrim, on the A42 road. It is part of Mid and East Antrim District Council and had a population of 2 ...

. Mitre are the Official Ball Sponsor of the SuperCup with a specially designed Pro Max ball being used.

History

The Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament began in 1983 with sixteen teams participating at an Under 16 (Premier) level. Motherwell from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

were the first winners. It was founded by Jim Weir, Victor Leonard, George Logan and Bertie Peacock, one of the most famous football players from the region. The competition was extended in 1985 when an extra age group, the Under 14 (Junior) section was introduced and again the first champions were from Scotland, as Rangers won the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament at that age level. The competition at both levels has grown in size and stature over the years, with teams increasingly travelling from all continents to compete. The Under 19 (Elite) section was introduced in 1995 with the Welsh finishing the tournament as winners. Traditionally, the finals are played at the Coleraine Showgrounds on the Friday evening. Taça Milk Cup 2007

Internationally capped footballers have taken part in the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament, such as Charlie Davies, Jonathan Spector, Paul Scholes, and

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

have all competed at some level. In the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

there were 30 Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament veterans playing. To celebrate the competition's silver jubilee, a friendly match took place between

and four-time junior section winners Everton at the Coleraine Showgrounds on 14 July 2007. Everton won the tie 2–0. One of the key parts to the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament is the inclusion of six representative teams from each county of Northern Ireland – Antrim, Armagh, Londonderry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. This system allows young players from across the province to compete against some of the best in the world at their age group. In October 2013, the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament organising committee and lead sponsors Dairy Council released a joint statement stating that the long-term sponsors Dairy Council would be withdrawing sponsorship. In February 2014, the organisers announced that competition would be sponsored by

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

-based company Dale Farm and that the competition would be known as the Dale Farm Milk Cup for sponsorship reasons. From 2016 it has been known as the Super Cup NI.

Winners

Notable players

* Danny Murphy (Crewe Alexandra) 1993 * Juan Agudelo (

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

) *

Jozy Altidore Josmer Volmy "Jozy" Altidore ( ; born November 6, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. Altidore made his professional debut in 2006, at the age of 16, with ...

(

) *

Dean Ashton Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

(

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

) 1997 (U14), 2000 (U19) * Nicky Barmby (

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

) *

Joey Barton Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City. He is currently the man ...

( Everton) 1997 (U14) *

Craig Bellamy Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...

(

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

) *

Kris Boyd Kris Boyd (born 18 August 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Boyd grew up in the South Ayrshire village of Tarbolton and started his senior career with Kilmarnock. He transferred to Rangers in Januar ...

( Kilmarnock) *

Wes Brown Wesley Michael Brown (born 13 October 1979) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. Brown began his career with Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, jo ...

( Manchester United) 1994 (U14), 1996 (U16) *

Sergio Busquets Sergio Busquets Burgos (, ; born 16 July 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona, where he is captain. He is considered to be a deep-lying playmaker capable of directing gameplay ...

(

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

) *

Nicky Butt Nicholas Butt (born 21 January 1975) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently the head of first-team development at Manchester United. He is also a co-owner and chief executive officer of Salford City. He played prof ...

( Manchester United) 1991 *

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach of Middlesbrough. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year p ...

(

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

) 1995 (U14) *

Michael Chopra Rocky Michael Chopra (born 23 December 1983) is an English former professional footballer who plays as a striker for West Allotment Celtic. A product of the Newcastle United youth system, he spent six years at the club without managing to se ...

( Newcastle United) 1997, 1998 (U14), 1999 (U16) *

Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as on ...

(

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

) 1995, 1996 (U14), 1998 (U16) * Stephen Craigan (County Down) 2001 (U16), (

) 2003 (U19) *

Peter Crouch Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...

(

) 1997 (U16) *

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team. Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...

(

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

) 1997 (U14) *

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a winger. He has been the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C. since November 2021. He began his pro ...

(

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

) 1994, 1995 (U16) * Calum Elliot ( Heart of Midlothian) 2002 (U14), 2004 (U16) *

Jonny Evans Jonathan Grant Evans (born 3 January 1988) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Leicester City and the Northern Ireland national team. Evans started his career at Manchester United and progressed thr ...

(County Antrim) 2002 (U14), ( Manchester United) 2004 (U16) *

Shane Ferguson Shane Kevin Ferguson (born 12 July 1991) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays for Rotherham United and the Northern Ireland national team. He previously played for Newcastle United in the Premier League, where he had two spells ...

(

) * Mikael Forssell (

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history i ...

) 1997 (U16) *

Darron Gibson Darron Thomas Daniel Gibson (born 25 October 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for League Two club Salford City, and formerly for the Republic of Ireland national team. Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, ...

(County Londonderry) 2002 (U14), ( Manchester United) 2004 (U16) * Ryan Giggs ( Manchester United) 1991 * Keith Gillespie ( Manchester United) 1991 *

Owen Hargreaves Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known as a hard-working and "solid defensive midfielder who worked tirelessly to win the ball" and provide his teammates with posses ...

( Bayern Munich 1997 (U16), (

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

) 1998 (U19) * Angelo Henriquez (

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

) *

Humberto Suazo Humberto Andrés Suazo Pontivo (; born 10 May 1981), nicknamed ''Chupete'' (in English, ''Lollipop''), is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a striker for Deportes La Serena. In 2006, he was awarded the IFFHS World's Top Goal Sc ...

(

) 2000 (Elite) * Tony Hibbert ( Everton) 1995 (U14) * Sean Sullivan (Malta National Team) *

Thomas Hitzlsperger Thomas Hitzlsperger (born 5 April 1982) is a German director of football and former footballer who played as a midfielder. In February 2019, he was appointed Head of Sport of VfB Stuttgart and was subsequently promoted to CEO. In March 2022, he ...

( Bayern Munich) * Aaron Hughes (

) 1996, 1997 (U19) * Mats Hummels ( Bayern Munich) *

Phil Jagielka Philip Nikodem Jagielka ( or ; born 17 August 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Stoke City. Jagielka started his career with Sheffield United in 2000, where he played mainly as a central midfiel ...

( Everton) 1997 (U14) *

Francis Jeffers Francis Jeffers (born 25 January 1981) is an English football coach and former player, who is a first-team coach at Oldham Athletic. Jeffers started his career at his boyhood club Everton, making his debut in 1997 as a 16 year old. After scori ...

( Everton) 1995 (U14) * Jeffren (

) * Ledley King (

) 1996, 1997 (U16) * Kyle Lafferty (County Fermanagh) 2001, 2002, (U14), (

) 2003 (U16) *

Federico Macheda Federico Macheda (; born 22 August 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Süper Lig club Ankaragücü. Born in Rome, Macheda began his career with local club Lazio, but joined Manchester United when he turned 1 ...

( Manchester United) * Steve McManaman (

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

) 1988 * Stephen McManus ( Everton) 1997 (U14) *

James Milner James Philip Milner (born 4 January 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool. A versatile player, Milner has played in multiple positions, including on the wing, in midfield and at full-back. ...

(

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

) 2001, 2002, 2003 (U16) * Juan Azuara (México) (2001) *

Ryo Miyaichi is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Yokohama F. Marinos in the J1 League and the Japan national team. Miyaichi began his professional career at Arsenal after a successful trial in 2010. However, without a British ...

( Japan) *

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...

( Manchester United) * Leon Osman ( Everton) 1995 (U14) * Danny Pugh ( Manchester United) 1997 (U14), 1999 (U16) * Diego Reyes (

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

) *

Kieran Richardson Kieran Edward Richardson (born 21 October 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger, left-back, or central midfielder. Richardson began his career as a trainee at West Ham United, going on to play senior footba ...

(

), 1997, 1998, 1999, (U14), ( Manchester United) 2000, 2001 (U16) *

( Everton) *

Robbie Savage Robert William Savage (born 18 October 1974) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, now a football pundit and director of football at club Macclesfield. During his career he played predominantly as a midfielder, ...

( Manchester United) * Paul Scholes ( Manchester United) 1991 * Jonathan Spector ( Manchester United,

) * Michael Tonge ( Manchester United) * Michael Turner (

) * James Vaughan ( Everton) *

Danny Welbeck Daniel Nii Tackie Mensah Welbeck (born 26 November 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Welbeck made his way through the youth teams at Manchester United before making his senio ...

( Manchester United) * Steven Davis (

) 2003, 2004 (U19) * Andy Little (County Fermanagh), 2003, 2004 (U14), (

) 2007 (U19) * Dean Shiels (

), 2000 (U14), (

) 2003 (U19) * Andy Kirk(

) 1996, 1997 (U19) * David Healy (

) 1996, 1997 (U19) * Chris Brunt (

) 2003 (U19) *

Cammy Bell Cameron Bell (born 18 September 1986) is a Scottish football coach and former player. Bell played as a goalkeeper for several Scottish clubs and once for the Scotland national team. Bell began his senior career with Kilmarnock and, after loa ...

( Kilmarnock) 2002, 2003 (U16) *

Sone Aluko Omatsone Folarin "Sone" Aluko (born 19 February 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Ipswich Town and the Nigeria national team. Aluko began his career at Birmingham City, graduating from the club's academy ...

(

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

) 2003 (U14) *

Shaun Maloney Shaun Richard Maloney (born 24 January 1983) is a Scottish football coach and former player. Maloney played for Celtic, Aston Villa, Wigan Athletic, Chicago Fire, Hull City and the Scotland national team as an attacking midfielder or winger. ...

(

) 2001, 2002 (U19) * Steven Naismith ( Kilmarnock) 2002 (U16) *

Lee Wallace Lee Wallace (born 1 August 1987) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He represented the Scotland national team with 10 caps. Wallace started his career Heart of Midlothian, making his debut in 2005 at age seventeen, and joined Ran ...

( Heart of Midlothian) 2002 (U14) *

Alan Mannus Alan Mannus (born 19 May 1982) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Shamrock Rovers. He began his career at Linfield, and during his time there he had spells on loan at Larne and Carrick Rangers. He then ...

(

) 1998 (U16), 2000, 2001 ( U19) * Chris Baird (

) 2000, 2001 (U19) *

Allan McGregor Allan James McGregor (born 31 January 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Rangers. McGregor has also previously played for St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Turkish team Beşikta ...

(

) 2001 (U19) * Warren Feeney (

) 1997 (U16), 1998, 1999 ( U19) * Ivan Sproule (County Tyrone) 1997 (U16) *

Roy Carroll Roy Eric Carroll (born 30 September 1977) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for his spells at Wigan Athletic, Manchester United (where he won a Premier League winners medal and the 20 ...

(

) 1995 (U19) * Charlie Miller ( Rangers) 1992 (U16) *

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently the manager of Alloa Athletic. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells either side of a £7.5 mill ...

( Rangers) 1992 (U14) * Paddy McCourt (County Londonderry) 2000 (U16), (

) 2002 (U19) *

Anton Ferdinand Anton Julian Ferdinand (born 18 February 1985) is an English former footballer who most recently played for St Mirren as a centre back. He was a product of the West Ham United academy and has also played for their senior team, Queens Park Ran ...

(

) 1998, 1999, 2000 (U14) *

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Manchester United and the England national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his explosive ath ...

( Manchester United) 2014 (U19) * Mason Greenwood ( Manchester United) 2014 (U13)

Media coverage

Since 2005 the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament has been broadcast on BBC Northern Ireland, taking over from UTV. This has led to much more media coverage as matches from Finals Night are broadcast on BBC Two Northern Ireland. Usually these are from the Premier and Elite section featuring highlights of the junior game which happens earlier in the afternoon. Some Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament matches are broadcast on BBC Two NI, made available to the rest of the UK via BBCi and the BBC Sport website and some other Milk Cup matches are broadcast online. The coverage is usually hosted by Stephen Watson, with commentary by BBC commentators such as

Jackie Fullerton John Alexander Fullerton,
Belfast Telegraph: 15 May 2003; accessed 19 Jan ...

, Michael McNamee, Paul Gilmour, Joel Taggart, Grant Cameron and punditry by John O'Neill, Gerry Armstrong and Oran Kearney.

References

External links