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 SuperCupNI Logo | |
| Founded | 1995 (Elite) 1983 (Premier) 1985 (Junior) |
|---|---|
| Region | Northern Ireland |
| Teams | 6 (Elite) 24 (Premier) 24 (Junior) |
| Broadcaster | BBC Northern Ireland |
| Website | supercupni |
SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and theDale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youthfootball tournament held annually inNorthern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of Northern Ireland, with matches taking place in the towns ofPortrush,Portstewart,Castlerock,Limavady,Coleraine,Ballymoney,Ballymena andBroughshane. Mitre are the Official Ball Sponsor of the SuperCup with a specially designed Pro Max ball being used.[citation needed]
The Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament began in 1983 with sixteen teams participating at an Under 16 (Premier) level.Motherwell fromScotland were the first winners. It was founded by Jim Weir, Victor Leonard, George Logan andBertie Peacock, one of the most famous football players from the region.[citation needed]
The competition was extended in 1985 when an extra age group, the Under 14 (Junior) section was introduced and again the first champions were from Scotland, asRangers won the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament at that age level. The competition at both levels has grown in size and stature over the years, with teams increasingly travelling from all continents to compete. The Under 19 (Elite) section was introduced in 1995 with theWelsh finishing the tournament as winners. Traditionally, the finals are played at theColeraine Showgrounds on the Friday evening.[citation needed]
Internationally capped footballers have taken part in the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament, such asCharlie Davies,Jonathan Spector,Paul Scholes, andWayne Rooney have all competed at some level.[citation needed] In the2002 FIFA World Cup there were 30 Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament veterans playing.[citation needed]
To celebrate the competition'ssilver jubilee, a friendly match took place betweenNorthern Ireland and four-time junior section winnersEverton at the Coleraine Showgrounds on 14 July 2007. Everton won the tie 2–0.[citation needed]
One of the key parts to the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament is the inclusion of six representative teams from each county of Northern Ireland – Antrim, Armagh, Londonderry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. This system allows young players from across the province to compete against some of the best in the world at their age group.
In October 2013, the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament organising committee and lead sponsorsDairy Council released a joint statement stating that the long-term sponsors Dairy Council would be withdrawing sponsorship.[1]
In February 2014, the organisers announced that competition would be sponsored byBelfast-based company Dale Farm and that the competition would be known as the Dale Farm Milk Cup for sponsorship reasons.[2] From 2016 it has been known as the Super Cup NI.[3]
The competition wasn't played in 2020 or 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Manchester United's under-16s played 3 challenge matches against Coleraine, Ballymena United and Linfield.
| Year | Premier | Junior | Youth (U-14) | Minor (U-13) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Runner-up | Winner | Runner-up | Winner | Runner-up | Winner | Runner-up | ||||
| 2022 |  Ipswich Town |  County Antrim | Manchester United |  Rangers | Charlton Athletic | Glenavon |  Surf Select | Glentoran | |||
| 2023 | County Londonderry |  Tigres UANL | West Ham United | County Antrim | not held | Celtic | Dungannon United Youth | ||||
| 2024 | Brighton & Hove Albion | County Armagh | West Ham United | County Down | not held | Crusaders | Linfield | ||||
| 2025 | Brighton & Hove Albion | County Armagh | Southampton F.C. | County Down | not held | Crusaders | Linfield | ||||
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Since 2005 the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament has been broadcast onBBC Northern Ireland, taking over fromUTV. This has led to much more media coverage as matches from Finals Night are broadcast onBBC Two Northern Ireland. Usually these are from the Premier and Elite section featuring highlights of the junior game which happens earlier in the afternoon. Some Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament matches are broadcast on BBC Two NI, made available to the rest of the UK viaBBCi and the BBC Sport website and some other Milk Cup matches are broadcast online. The coverage is usually hosted by Stephen Watson, with commentary by BBC commentators such asJackie Fullerton, Michael McNamee, Paul Gilmour, Joel Taggart, Grant Cameron and punditry byJohn O'Neill,Gerry Armstrong and Oran Kearney.
