Niall Harrison, manager of the FAI Emerging Talent squad, has announced his home-based squad who will compete in the 2008 Galway Cup. The opening game will see Harrison's team take on Ipswich Town on Tuesday, 5th August at Terryland Park (7.30pm kick-off). The tournament runs from Tuesday 5th to Saturday 9th August.
Niall Harrison said, "Bringing a squad to the Galway Cup gives home based players, who are just beginning the development process, a chance to compete at a high international level. These players are taking part in the Emerging Talent programme and have been selected from our 12 regional centres. I have no doubt that the home based players will really benefit from competing at this level. It will push them to their limits and they will learn a lot about their game."
The Umbro Galway Cup 2008 is the leading underage international soccer tournament in Ireland Competitors include a mix of emerging talented players from Ireland, Ipswich Town, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Leeds United, Leicester City, Donegal District League and MSK Zilina, Slovakia's top club.
The Umbro Galway Cup is in its 4th successful year and is becoming a major contributor to the promotion of sports in Ireland, and the generator of substantial tourism revenues for the City of Galway. It is a member of the Umbro International tournament group since January 2006 and along with the Donosti Cup in San Sebastian in Spain, the Dana Cup in Denmark and the Dublin Cup among others the Umbro Galway Cup is now considered one of the leading underage soccer competitions around the globe.
The Umbro Galway Cup has attracted teams from the UK, the US, Canada, the South East, Eastern Europe, as well as a strong representation of Irish clubs. League of Ireland outfits, such as Shelbourne, Derry City, and Bohs, have attended in the past, and have competed against UK academies like Ipswich Town, Glasgow Celtic, Aberdeen, Leeds Utd, and Charlton Athletic.
The Football Association of Ireland 2008 Umbro Galway Cup Squad:
DDSL
; Darragh Zaidan, Niall Lanagan, Daniel Purdy (all Crumlin Utd), Greg Murray (both Home Farm), Hugh Douglas (St Josephs Boys), Darragh Keena, (Mullingar Athletic)
Waterford
; Adam Potter (Villa), Paddy Barrett (Southend)
Kilkenny
; Ross King (Clover Utd)
Athlone
; Robert Murray (St. Francis)
Inishowen
; Conor McLoughlin (Moville), Ryan McLaughlin (Carndonagh)
Wicklow
; Mark Hardy (Arklow Town)
Cork
; James O'Brien (Wilton FC), Luke O'Sullivan (Corinthians Boys)
Wexford
; David Murphy (All Blacks)
Dundalk
; Cian Byrne (Monaghan Utd), Glenn Traynor (Rock Celtic)
On Standby
; Donal Brannagan (Crumlin Utd, DDSL), Lee Delaney (Evergreen FC, Kilkenny)