Northern Ireland football academy director hails kids after Manchester success

A youth football academy director has hailed his players after they impressed at a major tournament in England last weekend.

Playing for the Future are based in Belfast and Lurgan and recently sent a total of 18 teams to compete at the Manchester Easter Cup.

The event featured clubs from the UK and Ireland, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar and USA.

Linfield vs Larne and Crusaders vs Cliftonville to be streamed live this weekend

Six of the Northern Ireland academy's teams won their age groups to bring some silverware back across the Irish Sea.

But Playing for the Future director Ryan Prentice says all of the travelling players deserve credit for their performances on and off the pitch.

He told Belfast Live: "People can judge success in different ways. Some people will gauge it on how many trophies won, and the six age groups who won thoroughly deserved it. A number of teams also reached their respective finals.

"But we got a sense of joy and achievement through the quality of football all the teams played against good opposition. They got a lot of glowing reports from their opponents which was pleasing.

"We work with the kids on a weekly basis and to receive that feedback makes it all worthwhile.

"And one of the big things we took from the trip was how well the kids bonded. They come from different parts of Belfast and Lurgan, and other areas.

"They bonded so well and they developed new friendships and relationships off the pitch. They looked after each other which was very rewarding."

The Manchester Easter Cup was played last weekend and featured age groups from Under 7 to U16.

The games were played at Platt Lane - which used to be Manchester City's old training round - and the Armitage Sports Centre which is connected with