Gers on their way to Foyle Cup

THE City of Culture 2013 Hughes Insurance Foyle Cup is likely to be welcoming one of Britain’s biggest clubs to the city this year as it has been confirmed that Rangers Football Club have been in touch with the organisers.

Over the past number of years more and more Scottish clubs have identified with the Foyle Cup tournament - Celtic, Hearts, St Johnstone, Hibernian, Aberdeen, Motherwell and Kilmarnock, and obviously following on from the experiences of these clubs, Rangers have now set their sights on competing in 2013.

Tournament organiser, Michael Hutton confirmed that the Operations Manager at Ibrox had been in touch to discuss the possibility of an entry from Rangers FC.

“Rangers have been in touch about bringing a team to this year’s event. They are interested in competing at U15 level,” confirmed Hutton.

“I know that Rangers may not be competing in the Scottish Premier League at the moment, but they remain one of the biggest clubs in Britain and I know their Northern Ireland fans will be delighted to see the team compete for honours in this year’s event. We are delighted that they have chosen to showcase their youth talent in the Foyle Cup tournament.”

The growth in the Hughes Insurance Foyle Cup has been immense, Iin 2011, 132 teams entered the competition and last year it witnessed the highest ever entry of 164 teams and it looks as the entry closing date approaches, that up to 180 teams will compete in this UK City of Culture year event.

The tournament caters for entries from under 10 to under 17 and has an under 19 and Ladies tournament as well.

Mr Hutton Hutton in expressing his delight at the increase in entries commented: “When one thinks about the effect the recession is having on spending power not just throughout Ireland and the UK but globally - it is remarkable to note that each year our entries increase.

“The interest in our event and our city comes from all over the world. At the moment it would appear we will have at least four teams travelling from as far away as Canada and America to compete and possibly four teams from South Africa.

“Each year the event generates in excess of 10,000 bed-nights and an ever increasing amount of spending in the local economy, at a time of the year when visitor numbers had previously been quite low.”

The Hughes Insurance Foyle Cup will be held in Derry City, Strabane and Limavady Council areas from July 22nd to July 27th

The event over the years has been supported by Hughes Insurance, Derry City Council, Department for Social Development, Limavady Borough Council, Strabane District Council, Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Sports Council for N.Ireland, Seagate, PSNI, E&I Engineering and Derry Credit Union.

Details regarding this year’s event can be found on the tournament website www.foylecup.com or www.facebook.com/foylecupfootball or telephone 02871359734.