Up to 130 young soccer stars of the future will be parading their skills this coming weekend as elite players from eight top academies across Ireland and the UK compete for the inaugural Sligo Super Cup.
Hosted by Sligo Rovers and the Sligo/Leitrim Schoolboys Leagues, the U12 tournament has attracted top cross-channel academies Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday alongside Club Northern Ireland, Linfield, Dublin District Schoolboys League, Donegal League, Mayo League and the local Sligo/Leitrim.
With four teams in each of two qualifying groups, the programme includes sixteen matches across three action-packed days, kicking off under the lights at Sligo Showgrounds on Friday night.
Stand-out fixtures include the meeting of Celtic and Sligo Leitrim on Friday night and Celtic against Linfield on Saturday, probably the only time these sides have faced each other at any level.
Other interesting ties are the match-ups between Sheffield Wednesday and Club NI, which is the academy team of the Northern Ireland international set-up; and Celtic against the cream of Dublin schoolboy talent, DDSL.
There are four matches on Friday night, eight games on Saturday and then the play-offs on Sunday morning with the final timed for 12 noon.
Weekend tickets are available at a cost of 10 euro with concessions at 5 euro.
