Council Chair hosts reception for Tyrone SuperCup NI Team

Recently the Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Thomas O’Reilly, hosted a reception for the Tyrone SuperCup NI Team.

The following is a copy of the Chair’s speech which he delivered at the reception:

Councillors, ladies and gentlemen

As Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, I am delighted to welcome you all here to Omagh Leisure Complex for this reception in recognition of the Tyrone SuperCup NI Premier and Junior Teams.

The SuperCup NI competition commenced in 1983 as a Youth Football Competition with 16 teams competing for the title.

In the intervening years the competition has grown from strength to strength in its various guises as it was known as the Milk Cup in the 1990s and in 2017 the name changed to SuperCup NI.

The competition has enjoyed great success over the years attracting teams from Europe, North and South America as well as England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.  Such is the calibre of the players competing, it is regarded as the premier youth football tournament in Europe.

Over the years, the tournament has attracted famous footballing heroes to open the event including Alex Ferguson, Graeme Souness and Pat Jennings to name but a few.

The competition has also discovered a huge amount of talent and many players have gone on to play professional football including David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Keith Gillespie, Kieron Richardson and James Milner amongst others.  Who knows, the next rising professional could be sitting amongst us tonight.

The draw has produced glamour ties against youth team from Premier League Clubs for both teams.  The Premier Team will compete against Newcastle United who this year qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition for the first time in 20 years and the Junior Team will compete against West Ham United who earlier this year won the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Being selected for the Tyrone SuperCup Teams is a significant achievement in itself given the number and talent of footballers within football clubs throughout the county.

As well as developing and enhancing your football skills, you will learn valuable life skills in terms of listening, being a team player and resilience.

I am confident that each of you will do yourselves, your family and friends, your respective Clubs and your county proud during the tournament.  I understand you have been training and teambuilding over the last few months and I hope your hard work reaps the rewards of silverware.  However, it is also a fantastic experience and I hope you enjoy taking part.

It is also an opportunity for you to showcase your talents to football scouts who may be watching the various matches and I hope you take advantage of this opportunity.  This year’s draw was undertaken by International and Glentoran Footballer, Niall McGinn, and he said “I have some fantastic memories from playing at the tournament and it helped to stand me in good stead and gave me the belief and confidence that I could perform at the highest level”.  I hope you remember this when you step out in your Tyrone strip to play in each of your matches.

On behalf of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and on my own behalf, I would like to wish both teams every success in your respective competitions and best wishes for the future in your football endeavours.

Thank you.