40 years of SuperCupNI

YOU might have noticed that the organisers of the famed SuperCupNI tournament launched a new website last week.

The new website was, among other things, launched to mark the tournament’s 40th anniversary, and I have no doubt that the organising committee have other special treats lined up to highlight that milestone achievement over the coming months.

The international youth tournament has had its up and downs over the years and I suspect any issues or problems were largely connected to finance, or the lack of it.

Organisers, too, haven’t always got it right. A few months ago, for example, there were a lot of young footballers left bitterly disappointed that the age groups in the main categories had been changed from U18 and U16 to U16 and U14 in one foul swoop.

Because of Covid, that essentially meant that the 2005 year group missed out competing in the tournament completely.

Obviously, the powers that be decided that that particular move had to be initiated to keep the tournament relevant and attractive to, not only the county sides, but visiting academy outfits. The 17-year-olds, who were hoping to represent their county, are probably miffed that the status quo wasn’t maintained for just one more year but organisers obviously felt the change needed to be made sooner rather than later.

By and large, organisers have done a good job to keep the show on the road, and to grow it year on year.

It really is the story of humble beginnings to an international tournament of some renown, which attracts teams from all corners of the globe.

It all started with three wise men, Victor Leonard, youth administrator Jim Weir and the late great Bertie Peacock, getting together and floating the idea.

The seeds were sown and in July 1983, the SuperCupNI (Milk Cup) was born in the original guise of the ‘Northern Ireland Cup’.

Eight teams took part that first year and Scottish side Motherwell were the inaugural winners.

In 2022, 70-odd teams participated, and, no doubt, this year will be something similar, if not more.

Over the years, organisers have tweaked the format here and there to grow and improve the competition, but I’m sure the founders must still look back in some wonder at how the tournament has exploded.

The history of the youth football tournament is well laid out on the new website, and, I tell you, it’s well-worth a read. It’s certainly informative.

Did you know, for example, that individuals to guest/open the tournament included Harry Cavan, Martin O’Neill, Bob Paisley, Danny Blanchflower, Alex Ferguson, Joe Royle, Pat Jennings, Peter Beardsley, Nigel Worthington, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the great Eusebio himself?

Players who starred in it included Steven Staunton, Ryan Giggs, Nick Barmby, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Keith Gillespie, Joe Cole, Kieran Richardson, Danny Welbeck, Harry Maguire, Jessie Lingard, Ruben Loftus Cheek, Andreas Pereira and Marcus Rashford, to name but a few.

That’s a fair list of footballing royalty right there, and that’s not even mentioning the home-grown talent who went on to play for Northern Ireland, and others who made a career for themselves in the domestic leagues, North and South of the border.

There is, no doubt, the tournament helped nurture the careers of numerous local boys by exposing them to international competition during the key years of their development.

But, let’s forget about the football side of things for a minute. Of course, it’s important: It is, after all, the reason why someone like myself makes the annual pilgrimage to the north coast. For me, the big winner of the SuperCupNI is the local economy and the knock-on effects in terms of tourism for one of the most stunning parts of this wee country.

Thousands flock to the north coast for the week of the tournament, and, between accommodation, food and drink, cups of tea and coffee, fuel, etc, etc, the spend for those six or seven days would be substantial.

Longer-term, what about the repeat trips to the likes of Portrush, Portstewart, Castlerock, Coleraine, Limavady, Ballycastle; there would be considerable value in that as well.

In my opinion, the economic benefits of the SuperCupNI far outweigh the sporting aspect of the tournament, and, for that reason, more than any other, we all need to make sure that it continues to prosper in the years ahead.

I’m not sure what else organisers have planned for the tournament’s 40th birthday, but it might not be a bad idea to have some games hosted in all six counties like they did back in 2012. That summer, Mountjoy United’s Lisnagirr Road hosted the game between the Tyrone Juniors and Ipswich Town, while Manchester United faced the Tyrone Premier team at Dergview’s Darragh Park.

That game in Castlederg, of course, caused one of the big upsets in the tournament’s history when a certain Jamie Glackin and Cathal McShane scored in a 2-0 victory for the Tyrone boys.