The senior women’s team are not the only females from Northern Ireland who will be involved in a UEFA final tournament this year.
Before the girls in green and white head for England in July for their first major tournament (UEFA Women’s Euro 2022) a referee from Co Tyrone will also be making history.
Vikki Finlay will actually be entering the history books tonight when she becomes the first female referee from Northern Ireland to take part in a UEFA final tournament.
Vikki, who comes from the village of Killen, near Castlederg, is among eight assistant referees who have been chosen to officiate at the Women’s U17 Euro finals, which are being held in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 3-15 May.
After successfully passing a fitness assessment, the Tyrone woman will be running the line at the Norway WU17 v Spain WU17 match at the Gradski Stadion in Mostar tonight (7 o’clock start UK time).
The other officials for the game are Michele Schmolzer from Switzerland (referee), Romanian Daniela Constantinescu (assistant referee) and Bosnian Tanja Racic (fourth official).
Trevor Moutray, Head of Refereeing at the Irish Football Association, said: “This is the first time that an Irish FA female match official has been appointed to a UEFA final tournament. It’s something to be proud of and a great good news story for female match officials here.”
The UEFA European Women’s Under-17 Championship is back after being cancelled for the last two seasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The teams participating in this year’s tournament are: Group A - hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina, holders Germany, Denmark, Netherlands; Group B – France, Spain, Norway, Finland.
Germany defeated Denmark 2-0 in the opening match of the tournament earlier today.
