THE Irish Football Association is excited to announce that Northern Ireland has been selected to host the 2017 finals of the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championships.
Eight national teams, including Northern Ireland as hosts, will participate in the prestigious 16 day tournament.
An Irish FA Tournament Bid Group submitted a comprehensive bid dossier to UEFA in October 2014 following a period of extensive consultation with facility providers, DCAL and DETI and Northern Ireland was selected as the hosts at a recent UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Nyon, Switzerland.
The Irish Football Association believes that hosting a major youth finals tournament such as the Women's Under-19 Championship will showcase ‘Northern Ireland at its Best’ – including our football, our facilities, our culture, our history, our fans, our tradition of hosting major tournaments and our unconditional love of the game.
Irish FA President Jim Shaw commented on the announcement: “We are delighted to have been selected as hosts of this prestigious tournament and look forward to working with UEFA to deliver a world class sporting event.”
Irish FA Chief Executive Patrick Nelson added: “As part of our Corporate Strategy ‘We’re not Brazil, we’re Northern Ireland’ and our ‘IFA Girls’ and Women’s Football Plan’ we have made an explicit commitment to developing women’s football and we see this tournament as catalyst for growth in the game at a local level. I would like to congratulate the Bid Group and all those involved in securing Northern Ireland as tournament hosts.”
Tournament dates and match venues will be announced in due course.
