please log in to view this image This week sees one of the biggest youth competitions in the world take place, across various towns of my home nation of Northern Ireland. This is the Milk Cup, and comprises of three categories, with teams flocking from all corners of the globe to compete. Many of the world's biggest players have competed in the Milk Cup at one point. Many of United's "Class of 92" have featured, Sergio Busquets and Giovani dos Santos have played for Barcelona at the tournament, and no competition is complete without the addition of Francis Jeffers... The competition is played in 10 towns across North and Central Northern Ireland - Coleraine, Ballymena, Portstewart, Broughshane, Castlerock, Limavady, Portrush, Ballymoney, Clough and Drumahoe. These venues range from proper football stadiums to simple playing fields, such is the nature of the competition. As mentioned earlier, teams (accepted by invitation only) compete across three categories: Elite (U19) This is exclusively for nations. This year, four nations have teams in the Elite Section. The format is simple. Teams play each other in a pool stage, followed by a final between the top two teams, and a third-place playoff. Teams Northern Ireland Denmark USA Mexico Premier (U17) The Premier Section is made up of 20 teams, and features club teams, as well as teams representing the counties of Northern Ireland. Teams in this section play three games against three different teams in the pool stage, after which the league is "split" into five different competitions - The top four in one competition, the next four in another etc. Each of these competitions have their own semi-finals, third place playoffs and finals. Teams Bohemians Cherry Orchard Club America de Mexico Co. Antrim Co. Armagh Co. Down Co. Fermanagh Co. Londonderry Co. Tyrone Cruz Azul CSKA Moscow Liverpool Manchester United Newcastle United O'Higgins Otago United Corinthians South Coast Strikers TuS Altenberge Vendee FC Junior (U15) The format of the Junior Section is identical to the Premier Section, but for U15s instead of U17s. Teams Brentford Cavan/Monaghan District Co. Antrim Co. Armagh Co. Down Co. Fermanagh Co. Londonderry Co. Tyrone Dundalk Schoolboys League Everton Ipswich Town Japan FA Liverpool North Dublin Schoolboys League Plymouth Argyle San Luis de Colina Southampton South Coast Strikers Swindon Town Watford The event is being covered by BBC Sport NI, with highlights being shown on the Red Button and the BBC Sport website. Finals of the competition are also broadcast live on BBC NI. I will post any news/links to highlights or live games ----- [edit] Saints appear to have a game at Broughshane against Co. Tyrone on Tuesday afternoon, so I will try and report back with what I see.
Thanks for keeping an eye on it for us. It reminded me that the Island games finished on the 19th July. Don't know if you've heard of it, but its a mini-Olympics for islands from around the world...IOW always enters a big team, but many other islands enter such as Gibraltar. Events include football, golf, athletics etc. Good fun and the lucky devils were in Bermuda this year. Isle of Man took the title this year.
Saints fixtures: Monday 29th July Southampton v Cavan/Monaghan - 12 noon KO - Coleraine Tuesday 30th July Co Tyrone v Southampton - 12 noon KO - Broughshane Wednesday 31st July Liverpool v Southampton - 3.30pm KO - Coleraine So we are playing in Broughshane after all I'll see if I can get to it.
I was on a plane going into Gib once, it's quite scary as you make the final approach over the sea and touch down on the runway just as you reach dry land. You definitely don't want to overshoot either, as the other end of the runway sticks out into the harbour. The runway crosses the road between Gib and La Linea (in Spain) as well so they stop the traffic when planes are about.
Reading comprehension is your friend! "Mostly surrounded by water though." http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Gibraltar_map-en-edit2.svg That's no island...
There are several instances of where land masses that were almost entirely surrounded by sea were called islands. Probably most notably, Banks Peninsula [after Joseph Banks, the botanist], in New Zealand, was originally named Banks Island, because Captain James Cook, while surveying the easy coast, incorrectly thought the peninsula was cut off from the mainland.
Very true, TSS, but I think Gibraltar has been examined and explored pretty thoroughly enough to discover that it is actually joined to Spain!
Yeah there are, but that doesn't mean they actually are islands, and besides, Gibraltar is never referred to as "Gibraltar island".
