The Galway Cup is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

National Youth Tournament held annually in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. The tournament takes place in

Salthill Devon F.C. Salthill Devon Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in Salthill, Galway. Their senior team currently plays in the Galway & District League. They have previously played in the Connacht Senior League, the A Champi ...

's Drom Soccer Park venue.

History

The competition began in the summer of 2005 in a bid to bring the international football scene to Ireland. Over 40 teams representing seven nations participated in the inaugural tournament. Academy teams of such football clubs as Celtic F.C., Preston North End F.C., Shelbourne F.C., Fulham F.C., Sheffield United F.C., Newcastle United F.C.,

Leeds United F.C. Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland R ...

, Aberdeen F.C.,

Leicester City F.C. Leicester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home m ...

Ipswich Town F.C. Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, Derry City F.C.,

Glentoran F.C. Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Z ...

, MŠK Žilina,

Cherry Orchard F.C. Cherry Orchard Football Club is an Irish association football club based in the Cherry Orchard district of Ballyfermot, Dublin. Their senior team plays in the Leinster Senior League (association football), Leinster Senior League. They have also ...

and also Football Association of Ireland youth selection have competed. The tournament includes age groups from Under-11 to Under-17 and there is a group for a girls' Under-15 tournament. Now the youth competition has gone from strength to strength and is recognized as one of the best youth tournaments in Europe. The tournament highlights are broadcast on

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previ ...

Past winners

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

External links

Tournament history

Official Website
{{Association football cup competitions in Ireland Youth football competitions Association football in County Galway Association football cup competitions in the Republic of Ireland Youth association football in the Republic of Ireland Salthill Devon F.C. Association football cup competitions in Connacht