Northern Ireland’s Under-16s will begin their Victory Shield 2024 campaign with a game against Wales tomorrow (8 October).
Head coach Kris Lindsay (pictured) has chosen a 20-strong panel for the tournament, which features teams from Scotland and the Republic of Ireland as well as the Welsh and Northern Ireland.
The annual competition for Under-16 Schoolboys international teams is being hosted this year by the Scottish Football Association.
All six matches in Victory Shield 2024 are set to be played at Broadwood Stadium, a multi-use community stadium and sports complex in the Westfield area of Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire.
Lindsay has stuck with the same group of U16 players who took part in a three-team international tournament in Estonia last month; they drew 1-1 with Estonia and lost 3-1 against Finland.
The game against Wales at Broadwood tomorrow has a 3.30pm kick-off.
Northern Ireland’s U16s will then be taking on Scotland on Thursday (11.30am) and their final game is against the Republic on Sunday (13 October) at 11.30am.
The annual competition is run by the Schools’ Association Football International Board. The Victory Shield was presented to SAFIB in 1947 to mark, as suggested by its title, victory by the Allies in World War II.
Northern Ireland have only won the shield twice – in 2000-01 and 2018-19 – since the current version was set up in the 1940s. The Republic are the holders of the trophy.
The U16s squad for Victory Shield 2024 is as follows:
Goalkeepers – Michael Doherty (Dungannon Swifts), Cole Smyth (Derry City).
Defenders – Sean Cassidy and Paul Stanfield (both Cliftonville), Charlie Campbell and Adam Dolan (both Glentoran), Calum Anderson and Sonny Trainor (both Linfield), Calum Woods (Dundalk).
Midfielders – Finlay Ross and Jay Longridge (both Linfield), Caleb Sweeney (Larne), Emmett Morrison (Cliftonville), Harry Gough (Glenavon), Freddie Murdock (Everton).
Forwards – Eamonn Tohill and Coran Madden (both Cliftonville), Jack May (Linfield), Joel Kerr (Glentoran), Luke Hawe (Ballymena United).
