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SFAI Subway Championship 2018/19 officially launched

The SFAI Subway Championship and Plate competition was officially launched recently at Subway’s store in Milfield, Balbriggan.

Joined by young players from Balbriggan FC and volunteers from the North Dublin Schoolboys League, SFAI Chairman John Earley thanked Subway for their continued support of schoolboy football in Ireland.

The competition for those playing U12, U13, U15 and U16 football offers representative teams from all 32 schoolboy leagues across Ireland the opportunity to compete on both a provincial and national stage.

Subway’s support over the past three years has seen the Subway Championship grow considerably in terms of the level of competition, with the SFAI Subway Plate introduced last year.

Teams now get more games to help them develop, with the likes of Longford, Cavan/Monaghan, Kilkenny, Mayo, WWEC and Athlone reaching Plate finals last season.

Speaking at the event recently, SFAI Chairman John Earley highlighted the importance of the SFAI Subway and Championship Plate, noting Subway’s sponsorship and their appetite to see schoolboy football develop further in Ireland.

He said: “We are delighted with Subway’s support over the last three years, and we look forward to working alongside them in the years to come.”

He continued:”The Subway Championship has always been very competitive, and continues to be, but we wanted to provide more games for our leagues representative teams when the group stages have finished.

“Subway helped us develop the Plate competition and it was a huge success last season, and it is that success we want to build upon in the future.”

Subway have also provided kits for league representative sides, this year the U16 group will be the lucky recipients, while the SFAI have been working with the FAI to deliver coaching courses specifically designed for those coaching SFAI Subway teams.

With over 100 league representative teams at four age groups taking part in the SFAI Subway Championship and Plate this season, the competition will see finals in February and May.

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FEATURED: Highlights from Freebooters v New Ross Town U15 SFAI Skechers National Cup

This week the SFAI travelled to Kilkenny for the U15 SFAI Skechers National Cup clash between Freebooters and New Ross Town.

The visitors were making their debut in the competition this season, having never entered before, and they navigated their way through the opening round when they overcame another debutant, Slievenamon Celtic.

In their second round tie against Freebooters they showed well for periods but the homeside always looked like the team that would make the breakthrough.

They had to wait, however, until the final minutes to get their nose in front, and they then doubled their advantage soon after to seal the victory and their place in the third round.

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Kilmacrennan Celtic and St Kevin’s Boys kick off huge weekend of Skechers National Cup action

The SFAI Skechers National Cup continues this weekend, with a huge number of ties taking place across the country.

In the Ulster region the action got underway on Thursday evening when Kilmacrennan Celtic beat Bonagee Untied 2-1 to advance to round three of the U13 Ulster region competition.

Others including Ballyraine and Illistrin will contest games on Saturday, while in the DDSL region, St Kevin’s Boys kicked off the weekend on Thursday night when their Saturday side took on their Sunday team in the U12 competition.

The DDSL sees a full list of fixtures at all ages, as is the case in Cork and North Leinster, while in other regions such as the South West, South East and Connacht, ties at alternative ages will be played.

As always, if you are attending a game this weekend please feel free to update us with scores, results, team pictures and videos as the games unfold.

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SFAI Subway Championship 2018/19 competition kicks off

The much anticipated start to the SFAI Subway Championship is almost here, with a host of games taking place this weekend.

This season the U13s and U15s are up first, and there is no shortage of great games to look forward to.

Munster, as is so often the case, will be highly competitive, and the U13s are split into two groups, with Limerick Desmond, North Tipperary, Limerick County, Limerick District, Kerry and Clare making up group one.

Group two sees Cork, Waterford, West Cork, WWEC and South Tipperary battle it out, with the top two in each group moving on to the provincial championship semi-finals, while the remaining teams will move into the plate competition.

There are plenty of notable ties this weekend, including Clare v Kerry, Limerick District v Limerick County and Cork v Waterford.

In Leinster it will be equally as interesting at U13 level, as the SDFL, Carlow, Wicklow, NECSL and Drogheda do battle in Group One and Wexford, Midlands, KDUL, DDSL, Kilkenny and the NDSL fight it out in Group Two.

The opening weekend of fixtures includes the KDUL visiting Abbotstown to play the DDSL, Wexford facing the Midlands, Drogheda taking on NECSL and Wicklow welcoming Carlow to Celtic Park.

Also in the U13 Subway Championship, the Connacht provincial competition will see two games taking place on Sunday, with Longford playing host to Mayo and RDYSL traveling to Athlone, while Galway are idle.

The Ulster competition will begin slightly later, with games beginning in that in October.

All confirmed fixture details for both the U13 and U15 competitions are available on SFAI.ie under ‘Subway Championship’.

 

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SFAI honoured to receive new Liam Miller Cup from Cork SL

The winners of the U13 SFAI Subway Championship this season will be the first recipients of the newly presented Liam Miller Cup.

The cup was presented to the Schoolboys Football Association of Ireland by the Cork Schoolboys League at the recent SFAI Council meeting in Inishowen.

Speaking on the day, Cork SL’s Neil Cronin said it was a honour for the league to be in a position to present the cup to the SFAI.

Having spoken with the Miller family, Mr Cronin said they welcomed the tribute to the former Ballincollig FC player who went to play for Celtic and Manchester United and represent the Republic of Ireland.

SFAI Chairman John Earley accepted the cup, and thanked the Cork Schoolboys League, noting the importance of remembering Liam Miller who sadly passed away just days before his 37th Birthday.

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SFAI Skechers National Cups third and fourth round draws

The draws for the third and fourth rounds of the SFAI Skechers National Cups took place this afternoon in Abbotstown.

The fixtures for both rounds are to be played on or before the weekends of October 27/28 and November 17/18 respectively, depending on the region.

With many regions playing on alternative weekends as per usual, fixtures for the first and second rounds are to be completed over the next two weeks.
Results and fixtures are added as and when results are received from regional co-ordinators.

To access the full draw for the third and fourth rounds across all ages and regions visit SFAI.ie>>>Skechers Cups>>>Masterplans.

The fixtures are created and added to the main thread once they are set by the co-ordinators.

 

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SFAI Skechers National Cup continues this weekend

The SFAI Skechers National Cup continues this weekend, with games taking place right across the country.

As is the case in several regions, alternative weekends are used for different age groups, and there will be games in the South East, South West and Connacht.

The DDSL region will also get underway this weekend, with games on Saturday and Sunday at all ages.

Ties will take place in the first and second rounds on Saturday and Sunday, with plenty of intriguing games scheduled.

The draws for the third and fourth rounds will be held in Abbotstown on Monday 24th September, and will be available on SFAI.ie that evening.

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SFAI match cards available to download

With SFAI Skechers National Cup games continuing this weekend, clubs, leagues and referees are reminded the 2018/19 match sheets are available to download via SFAI.ie

The match sheet can be found on SFAI.ie under ‘resources’ and can be downloaded.

The sheet contains relevant information for game formats and other information.

Check out the resources page on SFAI.ie HERE

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Competition to find the best U12 penalty taker in Ireland launched

EA SPORTS and the John Giles Foundation have joined forces to find the best penalty taker in Ireland.

John Giles is delighted that EA Sports have come on board with the foundation, to find the best Penalty taker at U12 age level in Ireland.

Is it limited to the first 100 clubs, so get in early and don’t be disappointed.

Is Ireland’s U-12 Penalty Champion a member of your club?

This is open to boys and girls in your club born 2007 and under.

It only costs €100 for each club to enter the competition, and only 100 clubs will be allowed to take part.

Step 1
Have a competition in your own club. You can charge each player a nominal fee to enter, The winner of your club competition is guaranteed a copy of the EA SPORTS FIFA 19 video game.

Step 2
The winning player will then move onto their local Final.

Step 3
Each local winner will then move onto Provincial Finals (Connacht, Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Dublin)

Step 4
All five Provincial Winners will move onto the Final, which will take place in Aviva Stadium at half-time of the Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland game in November.

Step 5
The winning boy or girl will win a PS4 and will also earn their club a €2,000 voucher for equipment for their club.

Step 6
Club Competition must be finished by October 7th , County final 21st October, Provisional Final by November 4th .

Send your entries into Aidan McCarthy with a cheque for 100 euros.

For more information please contact Aidan McCarthy FAI HQ Abbotstown Dublin 15 or Aidan.McCarthy@fai.ie

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SFAI Skechers National Cup 2018/19 Dates

With the draw having taken place for the SFAI Skechers National Cup 2018/19, the first and second round fixtures have now been set.

These games will be played over the coming weekends, with the second round to be concluded by the weekend of October 6th/7th.

To ensure all those competing this season in the SFAI Skechers National Cups can make appropriate plans, see below the outlined dates for the national competition.

All those involved should note that dates for the latter stages of the regional competitions  – of which there are eight – will be confirmed by each region in the coming weeks.

Added to this, it is useful to remember that some regions play their games on alternative weekends as agreed by the leagues involved in each region.

Furthermore, a full SFAI season calendar will be issued as usual in the coming days.

SFAI Skechers National Cup 2018/19 dates:

  • First Round – 15/16 September 2018
  • Second Round –  06/07 October 2018
  • Third Round –  27/28 October 2018
  • Fourth Round –  17/18 November 2018
  • Round of 32 –  26/27 January 2019
  • Round of 16 –  16/17 February 2019
  • Quarter Finals –  09/10 March 2019
  • Semi Finals –  06/07 April 2019
  • National Finals –  11/12 May 2019
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