The celebrated week-long festival of youth football, which concluded on Saturday, recorded its highest ever number of teams playing over 1,000 games
The annual spectacle, which sees young footballers from the ages of nine to nineteen competing, this year attracted teams from America and Finland as well as clubs from across the water such as Celtic and Norwich City..
A record total of 310 teams – nearly double the amount that participated during the City of Culture year in 2013 – showed off their ball skills at pitches throughout Derry and the North West.
The number of beds occupied in Derry hotels last week was reportedly in excess of 13,000, while virtually every café and restaurant was alive with the familiar sight of youngsters in tracksuits grabbing a quick bite between matches.
And this year’s tournament proved hugely successful for local sides, with teams such as Oxford United, Foyle Harps, Trojans and Derry City all making the major finals.
Foyle Cup organiser Michael Hutton told the Derry News: “The Celtic under 14 manager told me he had travelled all over Europe and beyond and that truthfully nothing he had seen was as good as what he had experienced here in Derry this week during the Foyle Cup.
“He was hugely impressed by the organisation and playing surfaces, not to mention the local people all over the city and district were so welcoming both in their numbers and hospitality.”
Photo shows a section of the crowd which attended the tournament’s opening ceremony in Guildhall Square on Tuesday morning last.
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