FAI select Connacht to host new interpro tournament
Mayo goalkeeper Stefan Hester displays a safe pair of hands during his side's victory over the Roscommon and District League in the Connacht Region final of the Oscar Traynor Cup at Solar 21 Park, Castlebar last Sunday. See page 7 Picture: Michael Donnelly
Castlebar is in contention to host an all-new inter-provincial tournament that will see the cream of Ireland’s amateur soccer players bid to represent their country at the 2024/25 UEFA Regions Cup. The Football Association of Ireland revealed yesterday (Monday) that a tournament will be staged in March this year which will set the provincial representative teams, Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster, against each other in a round-robin tournament to be played over three days.
And while no official venue has been confirmed, the FAI has awarded the staging of the event to Connacht, with Solar 21 Park in Castlebar a strong contender to host this first-ever tournament.
The Western People understands that Joe Kelly from Westport, who is manager of the Mayo League side that won last Sunday’s Oscar Traynor Cup Connacht Region final, will manage the Connacht team for the interpro tournament, the winner of which will then represent Ireland in the UEFA Regions Cup.
Ireland has previously sent its full international amateur team to the UEFA Regions Cup but that honour will now fall to one of the provinces, where they will face the representative teams of Northern Ireland, Switzerland and the winner of a preliminary group which includes Georgia, Azerbaijan and Sweden. These group stages fixtures are scheduled for October with the host of the group stage set to be confirmed at a later date.
“We’re delighted to confirm the creation of this new inter-provincial tournament which should provide a great opportunity to highlight the talent that exists in the Amateur game,” said FAI President Paul Cooke.
“With the winner of the tournament set to represent Ireland on the international stage, this creates a real competition between the representative teams to win the tournament and continue our representation at the UEFA Regions Cup, a tournament we've always represented ourselves well in.” Cooke said the FAI remained committed to the Ireland amateur international team despite that team not now featuring in the UEFA Regions Cup, and that other games would be provided.
“We will continue to operate an amateur international team which will be made up of the best players across the country in the amateur game but then also, amateur players can now represent their region on the international stage, doubling the amount of opportunities for players which is a real positive for the game in the country.
“We look forward to the first edition of the competition in Connacht in March.”
