Northern Ireland’s Women’s Under-19 team are set to play their Swiss counterparts twice as part of preparations for Euro qualifiers next month.
Switzerland WU19s and Gail Redmond’s side will face each other at the Blanchflower Stadium in east Belfast later today (7pm kick-off) before meeting again on Monday (3pm). And there’s free entry to both games.
The two friendlies against the Swiss will help Redmond (pictured) prepare her squad for stage one of the qualifiers for the 2024-25 edition of the UEFA Women’s U19 European Championship.
Northern Ireland have been drawn in League A Group 6 where they will face holders Spain, Iceland and Belgium.
The first of those games, which are being staged in Spain, will see them come up against the Spanish at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia on Wednesday 27 November (11am UK time).
They will then face Belgium at the same venue on Saturday 30 November (kick-off time TBC) before taking on Iceland at the Pinatar Arena Football Centre on Tuesday 3 December (kick-off time TBC).
Northern Ireland’s WU19s were promoted to League A after winning League B Group 5 in stage two of the qualifiers for Women’s U19 Euro 2024. In those group matches, played in April, they defeated Estonia (2-0) and Georgia (5-0) and drew 0-0 with Kazakhstan.
Redmond believes Switzerland, who will be competing in League B in the qualifiers next month, will provide a good test for her players over the coming days.
She has chosen a 22-strong squad for the two friendlies.
The panel includes a handful of players who were involved in the Electric Ireland Women’s Challenge Cup final last weekend.
Orleigha McGuinness and Katie Markey were part of the triumphant treble-winning Cliftonville Ladies team – they won the game 5-0 – and the trio of Faye Loughran, Sophie Kelly-Bradley and Gracie Conway were part of the vanquished Lisburn Rangers Ladies squad.
The WU19s panel for the games against the Swiss is as follows:
Goalkeepers – Kate Smith (unattached), Cerys Sharkey (Larne Women).
Defenders – Abi Sweetlove, Ellen Hampton and Anastasia Stanyte (all Linfield Women), Sofie Keenan (Glentoran Women), Faye Loughran (Lisburn Rangers Ladies), Niamh O’Donnell (Mid Ulster Ladies), Orleigha McGuinness (Cliftonville Ladies).
Midfielders – Aimee Kerr and Clodagh Maguire (both Glentoran Women), Darcie McNeill (Crusaders Strikers), Sophie Magee (Grasshoppers Zurich, Switzerland), Sophie Kelly-Bradley (Lisburn Rangers Ladies).
Forwards – Kascie Weir and Rachel McIntyre (both Glentoran Women), Bernie Ferreira and Rebecca Mann (both Crusaders Strikers), Rhianna Breen (Linfield Women), Gracie Conway (Lisburn Rangers Ladies), Katie Markey (Cliftonville Ladies), Sophie Gargan (unattached).
