Foyle Cup organisers look back on 30 years of football

The Foyle Cup is a week to remember for many young football players in Derry and their families.

Now with a global reach, with teams from America, Canada and Europe having competed, those who were there when the Foyle Cup began find it hard to believe how far it has come.

Philip Devlin, Foyle Cup secretary, has coached local team Oxford United Stars for 20 years and played in the first ever Foyle Cup match against Star of the Sea from Belfast in 1992.

In the first ever Foyle Cup, it was a one-day tournament with eight teams.

This year, the Foyle Cup returns after a two-year break due to COVID-19, welcoming over 450 teams to the week-long tournament across Derry and beyond.

Philip spoke to MyDerry about the evolution of the tournament and how it has impacted the city more than they could have ever expected.

He said: "When I played in that first ever match 30 years ago, I never imagined all these years later I would still be involved and the tournament evolved the way it did.

"Time went on and the tournament just got stronger and stronger. I remember speaking to Michael Hutton just before we reached 200 teams saying we never thought we would expand that much.

"When COVID hit, we were unsure what the tournament was going to look like on its return. We thought if we get half the numbers as we had in 2019 we would be happy.

"We actually ended up having to turn teams away after we reached capacity, the applications came flooding in."

Philip spoke of the impact that the tournament has had on the city over the decades it has grown.

He said: "It is a festival of football. Not only is it important for the football following of the city, it is vital for tourism in the city. The hotels are booked out, the restaurants are booked