Strong international flavour again to annual Salthill Devon boys tourney

THE annual underage soccer tournament hosted annually by Salthill Devon will take place at Drom this year from Wednesday August 7 to Saturday August 10.

The Macron Galway Cup – previously called the Umbro Galway Cup – will this year welcome teams from all over Ireland, UK, Finland, Norway and Ukraine and beyond for the four-day tournament, with teams such as the FAI’s Emerging Talent squad, Leeds Utd, Maccabi Haifi and DNIPRO Ukraine among those signed up to compete.

The tournament – which is in its ninth year and showcases the talents of some of the brightest rising stars – has become a major recruiting opportunity for the FAI and other organisations over the past nine years, and this year sees a new title sponsor in Italian sportswear company, Macron.

More than 50 teams from six countries will play 127 games and compete to be named winner of their category. The tournament consists of five sections: the 1996 Boys, 1998 Elite, 1998 Boys, 2000 Elite and 2000 Boys. In excess of 1,200 players and coaches are expected to attend the tournament.

“We are once again looking forward to another action packed week working alongside our new sponsor Macro, as well as welcoming teams from as far away as Ukraine, Israel, Finland, Norway along with our usual  representation from Northern Ireland and the Republic,” said tournament organiser, Denis Burke.

“The Macron Galway Cup is not only regarded as a significant contributor to the promotion of sports in Ireland; the economic benefits to Galway are notably substantial. Organisers of the event have estimated the tournament is worth over €2 million to the local economy,” he said.

For further information on the upcoming event, check out www.GalwayCup.com, search ‘Macron Galway Cup’ on Facebook or contact Denis Burke, Tournament Director, on 087 7442877.