activity report - irish football association · support at the games have been a key factor in the...

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ActivityReport2014-2015

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Another year and how the Northern Irelandfootball landscape has changed over the pasttwelve months on the senior international front.

Northern Ireland is in second place in Group F inthe qualifying phase for Euro 2016 with fourwins out of five games and one point behindgroup leaders Romania. This is probably the bestposition we have ever been in for qualifying fora major tournament. The team has producedexcellent performances in the games and we arenow getting the results that are deserved. Weare at the halfway stage in the France 2016qualifiers and if we continue to replicate whatwe have done in the first five games we canqualify for the finals in France which would be amagnificent achievement for Northern Ireland.

I congratulate manager Michael O'Neill, hissupport staff and all the players on thetransformation in our fortunes and long may itcontinue.

I also credit the supporters of the internationalteam who have through their attendance andsupport at the games have been a key factor inthe extra motivation for the players. I

Irish Football Association – Activity Report 2014-2015 3

particularly applaud the large number ofsupporters who have travelled to the three awaygames. I hope all our supporters are rewarded bya trip to France in 2016.

Apart from being in a strong qualifying positiontwo Northern Ireland records have beenestablished in the tournament, the first time wehave won three consecutive competitive gamesand the first two away consecutive wins incompetitive games.

The U17 men's international team had success ingetting to the Elite stage of the U17 EuropeanChampionship and performed admirably againstBelgium and Netherlands, two of the best teamsin Europe at this age.

At this time last year I referred to theintroduction of our Elite DevelopmentProgramme and after twelve months we can nowsee the early benefits of this approach and in timeit will produce more top players for NorthernIreland and sustain success on the internationalstage.

The Woman's U19 international team also reachedthe Elite stage of their European Championshipand we hosted the Group games in Belfast in Aprilpast. With England and Norway, two of the topEuropean countries in Women's football, we wereoutclassed but the experience of playing againstthe best will help in improving our girls forchallenges in the future.

The Irish Football Association has been nominatedas hosts for the European Women's U19Championship finals in 2017 which in itself is anhonour and demonstrates UEFA's confidence inour ability to host such a prestigious tournament.

The Association successfully hosted the 129thannual meeting of IFAB in Belfast at the end ofFebruary. Further details are included in the bodyof the report. Credit is due to the IFA staff whoorganised and managed this key event which ishosted on a rota basis by its five constituentmembers.

Looking at the domestic game it appears that allmember Leagues throughout the football pyramidhad a successful season with the Premier Leagueat the top level being particularly competitive and

Jim ShawPresident, Irish Football Association

Jamie Ward celebrates hisgoal against Greece.

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attracting increased levels of spectator support. Icongratulate and thank all those volunteers throughoutour game who by their commitment make it possible tomaintain the domestic game at all the various levels.

In the Association competitions the Challenge Cup waswon by Glentoran. Carrick Rangers won theIntermediate Cup and Harryville Homers won the JuniorCup with Glenavon III winning the Harry Cavan YouthCup. Linfield Ladies won the 2014 Challenge Cup.Congratulations to the winners of our five knockoutcompetitions.

This time last year the physical redevelopment ofWindsor Park, as the new National Football Stadium, wasdue to start after the Irish Cup Final and now the projectis well advanced and due for completion by the end ofthis year. This will deliver the modern facilities we needfor the future and help to ensure our place ininternational football. All our staff will vacate WindsorAvenue and other premises and relocate to the officeaccommodation within the East Stand of the Stadium.The recently identified problem with the West Stand willbe disruptive but we will take all necessary actions to

ensure that the games in the short termare successfully played.

I would like to thank all Sponsorsassociated with the IFA for their supportduring the past year and I hope that theirinvolvement yields for them the benefitsthat their input merits.

I also thank the press and media for theircontribution and assistance to thepromotion and success of footballthroughout Northern Ireland.

I would also like to pay tribute to theBoard of the Association and theChairman Dr. Les Caul, the ChiefExecutive, Patrick Nelson, the staff of theAssociation, the Council and allCommittees for their support anddedication over the year and look forwardto their continuing support to deliver theambitious strategies that we areimplementing.'

Jim Shaw receives a pennant from FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

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from which Michael’s squad can attack the secondhalf of the campaign. Much work has been done, butwe all hope much more is to come between now andthe end of 2015.

Turning to work in the underage international squads,we qualified this season for the elite rounds of theunder 17 and women’s under 19 UEFA tournaments.Whilst we didn’t manage on either of these occasionsto progress to the final round, we did get the newsthat Northern Ireland has been awarded the hostingrights for the women’s under 19 UEFA finalstournament in 2017. This is a great opportunity toshowcase our country to the best young femalefootballers in Europe, and of course to play againstthem as an equal partner. Needless to say, theplanning is already well underway for this prestigioustournament!

Jim Magilton is now two years into his mission tomake our elite young players the best they can beand preparing them for their professional careers. Anew structure has been put in place whichsignificantly increases player contact time, andstrength and conditioning regimes have beenintroduced. Jim has also taken over as under 21manager, assisted by Damien Johnson, a 56 capinternational we have been delighted to bring intothe coaching team. Jim and his team have made greatstrides in two years, and there is much more to come


Welcome to the 2014/15 edition of the IrishFootball Association’s activity report. Asalways, the intention of this report is toshine a light into all corners of the work wedo on a daily basis, to show our variousstakeholders how we utilise our variousfunds for the good of football right acrossthe province.

It is only right at this point that I start bymentioning the two intertwined stories ofthe redevelopment of the National FootballStadium, and the resurgence of the seniormen’s international team. Work on thestadium started only a matter of hoursafter the 2014 Irish Cup Final was played,and twelve months later, the new lookstadium is taking great shape, as anyonewho has been to one of our games willknow. The East or Railway Stand has nowtaken perfect shape, the South EastQuadrant is all there, and the South Standstructure is now well past the half way line.

However as we all now know, subsidence inthe West Stand was discovered shortlyafter the win over Finland at the end ofMarch. This has meant some significantreplanning of the remaining parts of theproject, starting with making the WestStand safe by demolition. Also ahead ofthe next game with Romania in June weneed to complete the spectatoraccommodation in the East Stand andbeyond to ensure we maintain our 10,000capacity. The project team are completelyfocused on achieving this goal, and areputting every effort into making thestadium ready not only for this game, butfor the future of Northern Ireland football.The finished stadium will indeed besomething everyone associated with ourgame can be proud of, a fitting home atlast.

Writing more of maintenance, maintainingthe form of the senior men’s team issomething we are all hoping for. Sittingsecond to Romania in Group F of the Euro2016 qualifiers is a tremendous achievementso far and we hope our form can continuefor the remaining five games. Being fourpoints clear of third place and eight pointsclear of fourth place is a solid platform

Patrick NelsonChief Executive Officer, Irish Football Association

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Domestically, this has been Crusaders’ yearas they held off all comers to become theDanske Bank Premiership champions for thefirst time in eighteen years. Ten years afterthey were relegated, they have nowmanaged to take all of the senior domestichonours back to the Shore Road. WithGlentoran winning the Irish Cup for thesecond time in three years and Cliftonvilleretaining the NIFL League Cup, the seniorhonours were shared around this season,showing as it does the breadth of quality atthe top of our game.

On the community relations front, we saidgoodbye to almost fifteen years of EUPeace funding, which we had used over allof that time to help make our communitiesbetter through football. The end of Peacefunding for now has not however meantthe end of our community developmentwork, which has continued apace, especiallyin the areas of outreach, community andclub development. I should also pay tributehere to our Homeless World Cup squadwho travelled to Chile to compete lastsummer, and returned home with a trophyin only our second appearance in thiscompetition.

Organisationally, more changes have takenplace this season. We haveset up a wholly ownedsubsidiary company, IFAStadium DevelopmentCompany Limited, whoseremit will be to manage andcommercialise the NationalFootball Stadium when it iscompleted. Former IFA boardmember Trevor Annon chairsthis company, and has beenjoined by Tim Husbands, JohnMcCollum, Dr CameronRamsey, Hugh Wade andmyself on the board. We havealso completed therecruitment of our seniorleadership team, with OonaghO’Reilly becoming Director ofSales and Marketing, andLouise Doyle joining as


Director of the National Football Stadium. With a setof clear long term objectives in our sights, it isimportant that we continue to recruit the rightpeople to help us hit our targets.

This season we also had the privilege of hosting theannual general meeting of the International FootballAssociation Board, the global law making body offootball, for the first time since 2009. Chaired by ourPresident Jim Shaw, the top football lawmakers in theworld, including FIFA President Joseph S. Blattervisited Belfast at the end of February. As well as thelaw revision meeting itself, our guests were taken toStormont for dinner with First Minister PeterRobinson, and visited the award winning TitanicBelfast building.

Finally I would also like to use these pages to paytribute to the staff and volunteers who make footballin Northern Ireland what it is through their sterlingefforts throughout the season. Without all of theirwork, you would not see all of the happy faces andenjoyment portrayed through this activity report, andI thank everyone involved for this. Whilst on thesubject of staff and volunteers, I am delighted tonote that seventeen of our people have now startedUEFA’s Certificate in Football Management, which willgive each of them a formal and valued qualificationby the time they graduate in December.

I hope you enjoy this report on our activities throughthe 2014/15 season, and like all of us, I’m sure you’realready looking forward to next season!

Launching the IFA Child Safeguarding app for Android devices – Patrick Nelson, Jim Shaw, CarálNí Chuilín and Jim Gamble.

In the 12 months since the last update the work at the National Football Stadium has progressed well despite someunexpected site problems.

The major milestone on our critical path last year was the reconstruction of the pitch in advance of the OctoberInternational against the Faeroe Islands which was achieved.

In the intervening period progress on the construction work has been significant. The East Stand which includes thenew IFA Headquarters, the South East Quadrant and the South Stand are well underway and the new modernstructure is changing the skyline in this area of Belfast. Internal concourses, stairwells and lift shafts, administrationoffices and welfare facilities are now filling out the East Stand. The spectator bowl has extended from the NorthEast corner to beyond the centre line on the South. When the remainder of South structural steel work is in place

The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park

including the roof over the terraces the impact will be truly impressive. The refurbishment of the North Stand hasalso commenced and the upgrading of the seats, welfare facilities and concession outlets to the rear concourse willdramatically change this building.

We cannot ignore the recent damage caused to the West Stand and how this has potential to impact upon theprogramme for the overall delivery of our new stadium. We as an organisation are working with our consultantdesigners, our building contractor, the Department of Arts Culture and Leisure and the licencing authorities tominimise the impact. We are, along with UEFA, determined to host our games within this Euro campaign at ourNational Stadium.

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lMen’s InternationalSenior Team

In May 2014, the Association accepted an invitationto play two matches in South America against WorldCup bound Uruguay and Chile in their respectivecountries. The matches provided Michael O’Neill theopportunity to introduce some younger players tothe squad and in both matches, the team performedvery well despite losing narrowly (1-0 to Uruguay and2-0 to Chile) but the benefits of the matches andthe tour for the manager were invaluable.

In September, Northern Ireland began their Euro2016 qualifying campaign with a match againstHungary in Budapest and despite losing a goal with15 minutes remaining, Niall McGinn and Kyle Laffertystruck in the last 10 minutes to give the team avaluable 3 points in the opening match.

The winning habit continued in October when theFaroe Islands visited Belfast and goals from GarethMcAuley and Kyle Lafferty plus a penalty save fromRoy Carroll ensured a 2-0 win and another 3 points.The second match in October saw Northern Irelandtravel to Athens to play Greece in what many feltwas to be the most difficult away fixture, but anearly strike from Jamie Ward and a magnificent soloeffort from Kyle Lafferty gave Northern Ireland a 2-0victory and another 3 points giving a total of 9points from the opening 3 matches.

In November Northern Ireland had another awayfixture, this time in Bucharest to play Romania butunfortunately the winning streak was halted by theRomanians who scored 2 late goals to seal victory.Prior to the qualifying match in March 2015, TheAssociation accepted an invitation to play a friendlymatch against Scotland at Hampden Park and in atight match a single goal with 3 minutes remaininggave the home side the victory.

The Euro 2016 qualifying campaign re-commenced inMarch with a home match against Finland and twofantastic strikes from an in form Kyle Lafferty gaveNorthern Ireland the victory (2-1) and movedNorthern Ireland to 12 points in the qualifyingcampaign.

The next qualifying match is in June 2015 at home togroup leaders Romania.


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lUnder 21 Team

The Under 21 team completed their UEFA 2015 qualifyingcampaign with a home match against Serbia at ShamrockPark, Portadown but a strong Serbian team overpoweredthe home side running out 4-1 winners.

Under 19 Team

The Under 19 team, under the direction of StephenCraigan began their season with two friendly matches

against Iceland at home in September and the teamperformed well in both matches drawing 2-2 in the first

match and winning 3-1 in the second.The European Championships qualifying round

tournament was held in Northern Irelandin October and was a strong group

with the Czech Republic, Russiaand the Faroe Islands joining

the hosts.Northern Ireland’s

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CzechRepublic and

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2-0 victory for the visitors. The second match was equally as tough for theNorthern Ireland team as they faced Russia who proved too strong winning 5-2with Jordan Thompson (penalty) and Joshua Tracey getting the Northern Irelandgoals.

In the final match Northern Ireland defeated the Faroe Islands 3-0 with MichaelNewberry, Levi Ives and Jamie McDonagh getting the Northern Ireland goals.Unfortunately this victory was not enough for the Northern Ireland team to


progress to theElite Round of thecompetition.

In March 2015, theUnder 19’s travelledto the Netherlandsfor a friendlymatch against theDutch team andperformed verywell in a 1-1 draw.In November, theUnder 19 team willtravel to Russia fortheir UEFAqualifying roundmini tournamentfor season 2015-16where they willface the hosts,Norway andSlovakia.

Under 17 Team

The Under 17 teamcompeted in theirUEFA Qualifyinground minitournament inSlovenia inSeptember againstPortugal, Turkeyand hosts Slovenia.

In the first match,the Portugueseproved too strongrunning out 3-0winners.

In the secondmatch, Turkey werethe opponents andin an excitingmatch NorthernIreland picked upthe three points bywinning 4-3 withShea Conatygetting the winninggoal in injury time.In the final group

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lmatch, Northern Ireland played Slovenia knowing that a victory would send them through to the EliteRound but neither side could find the breakthrough in a 0-0 draw.

However, Northern Ireland did qualify for the Elite round with 4 points in the tournament.In February 2015 Northern Ireland travelled to Iceland for two friendly matches as preparation for theElite Round of the UEFA competition. Unusually the matches were played indoors due to the climaticconditions in the country at that time of the year but the matches proved useful for the managerdespite losing both matches 1-0.

The Elite round of the UEFA competition found Northern Ireland playing in the Netherlands againstBelgium, Georgia and the Netherlands.

In the first match, Belgium were the stronger team from the start and proved this by winningcomfortably by four goals to nil.

The second match against the Netherlands saw Northern Ireland’s best performance in thecompetition and in a hard fought and competitive match, Northern Ireland gained a very creditable 1-1draw with Shayne Lavery getting the goal.

The last match in the tournament saw Northern Ireland face Georgia but unfortunately the team couldnot replicate the performance from the Netherlands match and went down 4-2 in the end.


Women’sInternationalSenior Team

Northern Ireland’s seniorwomen’s team continued theirWorld Cup qualifyingcampaign in June 2014 withmatches away to Bosnia &Herzegovina and at home toScotland.

In the away match, the homeside got the only goal of thegame to take all three pointsin a closely fought match.

In the home match atSolitude, near neighboursScotland were the visitors andit was them that found thenet twice to record thevictory.The last group matches werein September with NorthernIreland travelling to Polandwhere they lost 2-0, beforecoming home to face theFaroe Islands.

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In the home game at MourneviewPark, Rachel Furness scored twiceand Julie Nelson also got on thescoresheet to give Northern Irelanda comfortable win and three points.

In February Scotland again travelledto Belfast this time for a friendlymatch and again proved too strongfor the Northern Ireland teamrunning out 4-0 winners in the end.In March 2015, Northern Irelandaccepted an invitation to participatein the Istria Cup Tournament inCroatia as part of their preparationfor the Euro 2017 qualifying seriesthat commences in the autumn of2015.

Northern Ireland played fourmatches in the tournament againstPoland (0-2), Romania (0-1), Croatia (1-2) and Bosnia & Herzegovina (0-0, 4-5on pens).

Despite losing each match narrowly,the tournament was valuable for theteam as they look towards the newEuro 2017 qualifying tournament, inwhich Northern Ireland have beendrawn with Italy, Switzerland, CzechRepublic and Georgia at the draw inApril.

Under 19 Team

The women’s Under 19 team begantheir preparations for the UEFAWU19 championships qualifyinground competition with two friendlymatches in Estonia in August 2014.

In the first match, Northern Irelandrecorded a 2-0 victory while in thesecond, a single goal from NorthernIreland was enough to give them asecond win in the week.

The Qualifying round competition ofthe UEFA championships was held inFinland and Northern Ireland weredrawn against hosts Finland, Greeceand Georgia.

The first match was surprisingly

Rachel Furnesscelebrates scoring.

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straight forward for Northern Ireland as theyrecorded a huge 8-0 victory with Moya Feehangetting a hat trick, Chloe McGlade scoringtwice, and Annie Timoney, Samantha Kelly andVictoria Carleton also scoring.

The second match against Greece was a tighteraffair but a single goal from Moya Feehan wasenough to give Northern Ireland victory andanother three points in the tournament.

The last match against hosts Finland saw thehome side record a 3-0 victory but theprevious two wins were enough for NorthernIreland to qualify for the Elite round stage ofthe competition.As preparation for the Elite Round, NorthernIreland again faced Estonia this time at home inFebruary 2015 and recorded two huge victories(9-1 and 7-0).

The Elite stage of the UEFA competition was adifferent matter with the team facing strongopposition in Switzerland, England andNorway. The tournament was held in Belfastover Easter and in the first match, Northern


Ireland pushed the Swiss team all the way but inthe end a single goal was enough for the Swiss toregister a 1-0 victory and take all three points.

In the second match, Northern Ireland facedneighbours England but despite taking the leadthrough Aimee Mackin, the English team were toostrong and ran out 9-1 winners in the end.The final match in the competition was againstNorway who were another very strong team. Fromthe kick off this proved to be the case with theNorwegians eventually running out 8-1 winners.

This tournament saw the infamous 18 secondmatch when UEFA ordered the last 18 seconds ofthe Norway v. England match to be replayed –starting with a re-taken penalty – after the refereemade a technical error in restarting the matchincorrectly in law. The penalty was scored and bothEngland (as group winners), and Norway (as bestrunner-up) qualified for the final tournament to beplayed in Israel.

Under 17 Team

The women’s Under 17 team began theirpreparations for the UEFA WU17 championshipsqualifying round competition with two friendlymatches in Wales in August 2014.

In the first match Northern Ireland were the betterteam and finished the match comfortable winnersby 4 goals to 2 with Sarah Connolly (2), EmmaMcMaster and Chloe Orr getting the goals.

In the second match Wales ran out winners by 4goals to 1 with Aiobheann Jones getting NorthernIreland’s goal.

The Qualifying round competition was hosted byAustria and in the first match Northern Irelandwent down 6-0 to the Austrians.

The second match against the Czech Republic wasa closer affair but in the end the Czech team won2-0.

The last group match saw Northern Ireland face theUkraine and in an entertaining match NorthernIreland won 3-2 to finish the competition on a high.The goalscorers in this match were Sarah Connelly,Rebecca Bassett and Chloe Orr. Unfortunately thatvictory was not enough to progress to the Elitestage of the competition.

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lany Elite Player Programme is the games element.This section has increased with games now beingplayed from u12 upwards. It was a successful year forthe young players in terms of results andperformances (we do not use results as a barometerfor success in youth development) as our u12 and u13won the cross border tournament, our u13s thenwent on to win the Milk Cup beating ManchesterUtd 5-1 in the final in what was a memorableperformance for everyone who had the pleasure ofwatching it.

It was a busy summer and our u13 developmentsquad were narrowly beating in the Final of theGalway Cup, again some fine football played duringthat week. Our u14s participated in the HiberniaTrophy in Dublin for the first time competing againstCeltic, Wolves, Norwich and Sunderland. A mixtureof u14/15 players took part in the Mayo InternationalCup finishing a creditable 3rd place. Additionally tothe core 35 week programme summer camps wereutilised and increase contact time and talent ID. Our u16’s started their international careers with atrip to Estonia in May producing two goodperformances and coming away with 2 draws. Theautumn period was jam packed with games as usualfor the u16’s with games against Finland (home) andPoland (away) in preparation for the Sky SportsVictory Shield. The Victory Shield campaign startedoff with a fantastic performance away in Scotlandand a 2-1 win. England were next up and narrowlydefeated our boys thanks to a free kick. With achance of sharing the tournament going into the lastgame the Welsh arrived Ballymena Showgrounds.Our Welsh counterparts came out on top andended up winning the Victory Shield outright. Our u17’s qualified for the Elite round of theEuropean Champions after beating Turkey 4-3 anddrawing with Slovenia. The boys travelled to Hollandto take on the hosts, picking up a magnificent draw.The 2 other games against Belgium and Georgiadidn’t lead to the wins we wanted and thus wedidn’t qualify for the Finals.

Easter 2015 was a memorable time for the 2000 and2001 players. The 2000’s started their internationalcareers with a fantastic display against Belgium,drawing 0-0, and then the next day losing to Turkey.The 2001’s represented Northern Ireland at theMediterranean International Cup making it throughto the last 16 with 4 wins and playing some sublimefootball only to be knocked out by finalists RealMadrid in what was a tournament that will live longin the memories of the young players.


Club NI

2014 saw a change in our player developmentstructures in Northern Ireland. An elite playerdevelopment programme commenced inFebruary 2014 as the County ExcellenceProgramme had run its course.

The Elite Player Development Programme,named Club NI, was set up to develop thenext generation of Senior Internationals andaiming to create a club like mentality amongstour young players. New staff were appointedunder the guidance of the Elite PerformanceDirector Jim Magilton.

The former County Excellence Programme was1.5 hours per week for 24 weeks with the ClubNI programme now increasing contact time to35 weeks for 6 hours per week. The addition ofthe Sports Institute of Northern Ireland (SINI)has been a major change and welcome boostto the programme with SINI taking the lead onthe Strength and Conditioning elements of theprogramme.

One of the main pillars of development for

committing to being good inthe future. The players are allgifted and at the beginning oftheir learning processincluding regular fitnesstesting has enabled data to beproduced from which all thegirls are given specificprogrammes to work on athome as well as on theirtechnical skills.

This year the quality supportgiven by SportNI has given anextra incentive to theprogramme, enabling theirstaff to give presentations onthe Parent, Player, CoachTriangle and the importanceof all three parties in thedevelopment of the young

players. Presentations were given to the parents ateach centre as well as the players and coaches.These events were well supported and culminatedwith insightful Q+A sessions and positive feedbackfrom all involved.

Regular profiling of the girls takes place withreports completed after each session or game andreviewed not only to study the player but alsoused as analysis to help players and coachesidentify future session requirements and areas ofimprovement.

All four regions are represented again this year inthe U15 Bob Doherty squad. Their preparation hasbeen assisted by a number of players and staffvisiting the Aston Villa Academy in October totrain alongside and play against the Aston Villagirls. This trip was funded by UEFA and it was agreat learning experience for everyone involved.This squad again is the first step for the girls onthe International pathway and from it the squadfor the UEFA U16 Development tournament isselected.

The exciting news for the players born in 1999 and2000 was that with Northern Ireland beingselected to host the UEFA U19 Women’s Finals in2017 they would be eligible to play in thistournament. A great incentive to really applythemselves to be the best they possibly can be.

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Regional Girls Excellence Programme

The Regional Girls Excellence Programme hascontinued to evolve and improve throughoutthe year with the girls now receiving morecoaching time than ever before. Hosted at fourvenues throughout the province The Dub inBelfast, University of Ulster at Jordanstown,MUSA in Cookstown and Scroggie RoadLimavady the programme provides top qualitycoaching and development for 170 girls agedfrom 9 – 15 years old. Grouped in three agebands 1999/01, 2002/03 and 2004/05 the girlsget 30 sessions of 1.5 hours throughout theyear. This has now been complemented with aregular Monday night “Academy” session wherethe sessions are focused on individualimprovements and the sessions are basedaround what the players have identified theywould like to work on. Technique is givengreater importance and ensuring the playersfeel comfortable on the ball.

There have been monthly Festival days wherethe squads all come together and play interregion games at the three age groups. Theplayers are now faster, physically, tactically andtechnically stronger than ever before. With theplayers and staff all buying into thedevelopment process about talent not onlybeing good at the moment, it’s about

The International Football Association Board (IFAB)The IFA acted as host for the 2014/15 IFAB cycle with the inaugural meetings of the new consultativebodies taking place in Belfast in November chaired by Patrick Nelson. These groups the FootballAdvisory Panel and the Technical Advisory Panel saw delegates travelling from all over the world –NewZealand, Japan, USA amongst others and included a World Cup winner – Christian Karembeu (France1998), a former Premiership star - Shaka Hislop ex West Ham and Newcastle Utd) and the mostidentifiable referee – Pierluigi Collina (now Head of Refereeing at UEFA). These groups discussed theuse of technology, hand ball and the Denial of an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity (the so calledtriple Punishment).These meetings which fed into the Annual Business Meeting helped set the agendafor the Annual General Meeting, the only meeting which has the power to change the laws, inFebruary at the Culloden Hotel which was chaired by the IFA president Jim Shaw.

The AGM introduced the concept of return (rolling ) substitutes and further debated the triplePunishment issue with FIFA receiving permission to investigate further with their DisciplinaryCommittee. Sepp Blatter led the FIFA delegation as the focus of the world footballing media fell onNorthern Ireland. The IFA remains proud of its role within the IFAB and is committed to playing a fullrole in all its work with IFA representative involved in the redrafting of the Laws of the Game which itis hoped will make the Laws easier to understand for players, referees and fans alike. At the IFABmeeting Sepp Blatter announced FIFA’s intention to support the renovation of the gravestone ofWilliam McCrum, the inventor ofthe penalty kick, in Milford, Co.Armagh. A generous gesture whichis greatly appreciated by theAssociation and AONISC. The IFAreceived high praise from all thedelegations for the organisation ofthe weekend, and we lookforward to hosting again in 2020.


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Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA, at IFAB AGM.

Inaugural meeting of the Football AdvisoryPanel

(Back row) – Gijs de Jong (KNVB), Ioan Lupescu(UEFA), Shaka Hislop (CONCACAF), Andreas

Rettig (Bundesliga). (Front row) – ChristianKarembeu (Oceania), Patrick Nelson (IFA),

Richard Jobson (FIFPro).

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ticThe Association continuesto provide competitiveopportunities for all itsaffiliated clubs through thefive national cupcompetitions – The IrishCup, Intermediate Cup,Junior Cup, Harry CavanYouth Cup and Women’sCup – and this season asusual has seen lots ofenthusiasm and passion asthe competitions tookplace.

Linfield Ladies were the firstclub to lift silverware withtheir penalty shoot-out victory over NewryCity Ladies at Bangor in the Women’s Cup,whilst Glenavon III defeated LinfieldRangers (1-0) in the Harry Cavan Youth Cupat Mourneview Park.

In the Intermediate Cup, all conqueringCarrick Rangers added this prestigious oldcup to the Championship 1 trophy and theSteel and Sons Cup when they defeatedH&W Welders by 3 - 1, whilst HarryvilleHomers retained the Junior Cup coming outof the 229 initial participants to defeatRosemount Rec by 3 – 1 at Coagh.

In the Irish Cup a bumper 8000 crowdattended the Oval to witness a titanicstruggle between Glentoran andPortadown. The Final was played at theOval due to the ongoing difficulties atWindsor Park and the Association wouldlike to thank Glentoran for the use of theirground and the authorities at Belfast CityCouncil and Sport NI for their help instaging the match and permitting the use oftemporary seats to increase the possibleattendance. The naming rights for the finalwere once again granted to Marie Curie andthe Association is delighted to be able toincrease the profile of this wonderful causein this way, and to have such a deservingorganisation to be our partners.On the pitch itself Glentoran continuedtheir run of success in this competitionwith David Scullion’s goal being thedifference between the teams in a matchplayed in most unseasonal torrential rain.

At the beginning of the season Crusaders and Linfieldboth reached the second qualifying round of theUEFA Europa League which will help improve theAssociation’s co-efficient with UEFA.

As with most seasons this one has seen its share ofchallenges and controversies. The Association’sJudicial bodies – Disciplinary and Appeals - have beenkept busy with the independent legal chairmen andvice chairmen exercised over issues as divergent asthe ordering off from the technical area of a player-manager – the so-called ‘Gary Hamilton affair’ - theplaying of a player who was suspended – Ruari Harkin– and the suspension of a player for a head buttincident which was subsequently overturned atappeal – Chris Casement. These issues and othershave shown the importance of having independent,legally led judicial bodies which can deal with mattersobjectively. This has proved to be a strength for theAssociation, not everyone will always agree with thedecisions taken, but the strength of having suchunbiased, independent structures is the assurance and


Glentoran celebrate theirIrish Cup victory.

It’s great to score a goal in theYouth Cup semi-final.

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ticconfidence that theyprovide for the Associationand the wider game.

Once again the IFA RegionsCup squad, managed byHarry McConkey, hasqualified for the FinalTournament of thecompetition which will beplayed in Dublin in June,where they will compete ina group made up of regionalsquads from Croatia, Poland and Germany.Qualification in the tournament in Moldovasaw Harry’s team defeat sides fromMoldova (5-1), Ukraine (4-0) and Spain (1-0)with Richard Thompson of Dollingstownscoring 5 goals. The continued success ofthis squad provides opportunities over atwo year period for non-senior amateurplayers to compete at international leveland the Association appreciates thecontinuing hard work of Harry McConkey inpreparing and managing this squad.

CLUB LICENSING& FACILITIES

The Club Licensing process continues to setout defined quality standards andprocedures by which clubs are assessed forcontinual improvement against sporting,


infrastructure, personnel and administrative, legal andfinancial criteria.Nine UEFA Licences, 12 Domestic Licences and 2Championship Licence were awarded for season 2014-15. The unit also successfully completed the annualUEFA / SGS audit confirming that the Association aslicensor continues to comply with the minimumrequirements for assessing application.

The current licensing cycle to award licences forseason 2015-16 saw a significant increase in thenumber of Championship clubs (15) engaging in theprocess, many for the first time, as clubs prepare forthe introduction of a mandatory ChampionshipLicence during season 2015-16 for the award oflicences for season 2016-17. This will coincide with thefull implementation of the Northern Ireland Footballleague restructure to create a second senior tier offootball in Northern Ireland to commence in season2016-17.

IFA Regions Cup squad.

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ticReferees

It has been a busy, challenging, butultimately successful year in NorthernIreland for referees at all levels.Development has been the focus withfocus on succession planning at all levelsand a full review of refereeing taking place.

In Europe Northern Ireland’s referees wereactive in World Cup Qualifying, UEFAChampions League and Europa League,UEFA Youth Champions League and anumber of Under 17 & Under 19tournaments. Arnold Hunter was promotedto UEFA 1st Category after successfulEuropa League group stage outings atVillarreal and HJK Helsinki with Tim Marshalland David Anderson both attaining theirFIFA badges in December 2014. In March2015 they were appointed to their firstUEFA tournament officiating an Elite Under17 qualification tournament in Germany.

At grassroots level the first year of theYoung Referees’ Programme provedsuccessful with 16 young refereescompleting the first year. The attitude ofthese referees has been first classthroughout the year, showing that thefuture is bright for referees in NorthernIreland. Oisin Mahon, Niall Gallagher andShane McGonigle travelled to the LiverpoolCounty FA for an exchange programme andfeedback on all three officials wasextremely positive. Oisin and Shane werejoined by Ryan Kelsey and Andrew Netheryin officiating at the Harry Cavan Youth Cupfinal in April.

The Senior referees and assistants took partin a 4 day training course held by FIFA inFebruary 2015 at the Europa Hotel, Belfast.The course was an intensive 4 day courselooking at Laws of the Game, tacticalapproach, fitness and consistency. Guestinstructor Steve Bennett gave a valuableinsight into FIFA training techniques and thishas allowed us to feedback the guidelinesreferee observers, championship officialsand grassroots referees embedding aconsistent training programme from top tobottom.

It has also been a busy year for female referees withRuth-Anne Wright, Vikki Finlay and Lauren Murraytaking part in a development programme held by theEnglish FA at Warwick University. This has allowedthem to get feedback from experienced female FIFAofficials in England and work with developmentofficials from all levels as part of the programme.Vikki and Rachel Smith will officiate at the upcomingUEFA Under 19 tournament being held in NorthernIreland.

A special mention must go to our Referee Coacheswho have completed well over 200 reports onreferees and assistant referees this year. DavidRedfern and Tommy Fairfield have been providingassistant referees’ with specialist feedback since thestart of the season with Basil Marshall and NormanCowie working with grassroots referees to assist indevelopment and work on talent ID throughout thecountry.


Ian McNabb on a recentreferee exchanges in Malta.

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Grassroots ProgrammeAll 13 Grassroots Development Officers(GDO’s) have now been realigned to matchthe new ‘Super Council‘ regionscommencing on April 1st 2015. To reflectthis change GDO’s will now have the title ofRegional Grassroots Development Officers.

McDonald's Programme

A new 4 year sponsorship has been agreedwith Mc Donald’s. The new programmewill focus on supporting the FoundationMark scheme (which replaces the old ClubAccreditation) and their volunteers to helpraise the standards of grassroots footballacross Northern Ireland and improve theexperience for everyone involved.

As part of the programme, McDonald’s willbe giving Northern Ireland Foundation Markclubs with a junior team the opportunity toorder a brand new Adidas strip every yearfor the next four seasons. This equates toover 2,100 kits over the course of the four-year partnership.

To celebrate the announcement, formerArsenal captain Martin Keown, joined withMcDonald’s Head of Irish Football, PatJennings and Northern Ireland Women’scaptain Ashley Hutton to launch the newdeal and kit scheme at the Play Ball Facilityon the Stormont Estate in October 2014were joined by the deputy First Ministerwho lent his support to the newcommunity partnership.


Other existing programmes will continue as part ofthe new Mc Donald’s sponsorship and these include;the very successful Small-Sided Games programmewith approx. 9000 children / 884 teams playing 5, 7or 9 a side at over 50 venues throughout NorthernIreland and Coaching Masterclasses young people forcoaches/volunteers at Small-Sided Games Centres.

Nutty Krust Holiday Camps

Following on from a new extended Sponsorship dealwith Irwin’s Bakery the Regional GrassrootsDevelopment Officers delivered Nutty Krust Holiday

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Coaching A comprehensive coaching programme continues todevelop in Special Education. Free coaching blocksremain very popular with 35 schools receiving coachingin this period with over 1000 pupils benefitting.

Competition17 Cup competitions for the various ages, abilities andELB’s took place throughout the year involving 40+schools and support units and involving over 500pupils.

National WinnersCoca-Cola FA Cup Under 15 SLD Schools – Sandleford,Coleraine


Coca-Cola FA Cup Over 15 SLD Schools –Knockavoe, StrabanePrimary MLD Schools – Harberton, BelfastYrs 8 – 10 MLD Schools – Coleraine CollegeYrs 11+ MLD Schools – Park, Belfast

Coaching

The IFA continues to work with localcouncils, schools and disability organisationsto develop ‘after-school’ activities. There arecurrently 45 Clubs in Northern Irelandproviding disability football opportunities ona regular structured basis. These clubs caterfor various ages and abilities and are a keyarea in the provision of opportunities forthose with a disability in NI with over 600registered players.

Competition

Regional Leagues operate in 2 areas forDisability Football Clubs in NI with 25 Teamscompeting.

2014 League Results

Region 1 WinnersPremiership – Foyle Strikers, Londonderry

Region 2Premiership - Belvoir Blades AChampionship – Belvoir Blades CMid-week League Premiership – Lisburn CityStars2014 Community Cup. 52 teams from all overthe UK and Ireland participated in thisannual 5-a-side competition for adults witha disability at the Billy Neill complex inDundonald. There are 4 ability bands(divisions) in this competition.

WinnersPremiership – Foyle Belles (LondonderryChampionship – Belfast DFCLeague 1 – Down SO (Downpatrick)League 2 – Llandudno D (Wales)

The Department has secured substantialfunding from the George Best Foundationthrough The Mary Peters Trust that will aidthe development of this flagship disabilitycup competition over the next 5 years.

Cerebral Palsy Team

Camps at, Easter, Summer and Halloween for childrenaged 5-13. Participation were as follows:

• 25 Easter Camps 2014 – 1320, 10 % up on theprevious year

• 59 Summer Camps 2104 – 3500, 10 % up on theprevious year

• 25 Halloween 2014- 967, 10 % up on the previousyear

Masters (35+)

Each RGDO has been tasked as part of their workprogramme to deliver a 10 week training programmefor players 35+ in their local region. This programme isto encourage people who have for various reasonshave stopped participating in football to rejuvenatetheir passion in playing football and to meet newfriends.

The U19 squadunfortunatelyfinished in 3rdplace in the 2014Home NationsChampionshipsthat weresuccessfully held inBelfast. They lost 2-0 to Scotland anddrew 2-2 with theRepublic of Ireland.

PowerchairFootball

There has beengreat developmentin the area of

Powerchair Football inthe past year. Substantialfunding was securedthrough DCAL for thepurchase of thespecialist chairs requiredto play the game. Thishas enabled anadditional club todevelop in Lisburn calledLightning. Together withthe successfulTrailblazers club inNewtownabbey thereare now 20 playersparticipating in thisexciting strand ofdisability football.

Coach Education

Coach educationremains an importantsupporting structure inthis area of footballdevelopment. In thisperiod 8 x IFA Level 1Coaching DisabledFootballers Awards weredelivered to nearly 200coaches. 1 x IFA Level 2Coaching DisabledFootballers Award wasalso delivered in thisperiod to 16 coaches. gr

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Deaf Football

Exciting new areas of development are progressing in the area of DeafFootball thanks to a strong working partnership with Belfast Deaf Unitedand Action on Hearing Loss. Areas of note are an Under 18 section ofBelfast Deaf UTD a Womens programme and Veterans programs in thegreater Belfast area.

Belfast Deaf UTD won the 2014 British Deaf Cup for an impressive 3rd timein 4 years.

Visual Impairment Football

Local club side Lisburn Rovers continues to operate in partnership withRNIB. Participation continues to grow and competitive opportunities areaccessed through the UK VI League.

Cerebral Palsy

The Northern Ireland Cerebral Palsy Squad played in the 2014 EuropeanChampionships in Maia, Portugal. They finished in a credible 8th place.Some fine performances included a fine 1-0 victory over Germany thatmeant NI qualified for the 2015 World Championships. These will be heldin England in June 2015.

Learning Disability

There have been mixed results and for both the Under 19 and SeniorLearning Disability Squads in 2014.

In friendly internationals the Seniors beat Wales 4-1 but lost by the samemargin to England.


Foyle Belles, 2014 Community Cup winners.

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Primary SchoolsCurriculum SportsProgramme (DENI) The Curriculum Sports programme isfunded by Department of Education forNorthern Ireland and is now in its 8th year.The Irish FA employs 30 full-time specialistcoaches with the aim to support andcomplement existing current physicaleducation programmes to help develop thePhysical Literacy of Foundation and Keystage 1 pupils in Primary Schools throughoutNorthern Ireland. The programme seeks toimprove the participant’s health and well-being and encourages them to embrace ahealthy lifestyle from a young age.

The lessons provided also engage childrenin a range of cross curricular activities tohelp support their literacy and numeracyskills both through class based sessions andhome work projects. This year 218 schools

were involved in the programme. This equated toover 877 classes a week with 21,400 children and 1000teachers and classroom assistants benefiting from thisinitiative.

During extra-curricular time, the Irish FA PrimarySchool Coaches have also delivered a number ofcomplementary initiatives such as Fit Families, ClubDevelopment and Coach Education workshops.

The Fit Families workshops provided opportunities forparents and their children to come together throughthe medium of physical well-being. The projecthelped provide family members with some practicaland theoretical advice about how to improve lifestylethrough physical activity, diet and sleep.

Club Development and Coach Education workshopswere delivered throughout the year to volunteer clubcoaches with the aim of demonstrating how todevelop fundamental movement skills and physicalliteracy and how this has a direct impact on aparticipant’s ability to become competent in sportsspecific tasks in the future.

The Irish FA Primary School Coaches have also beenactive in a variety of Grassroots programmes such asPlayer Development Programmes, Small Sided GamesProgrammes and Holiday Camp coaching.

A third of Primary School Coaches have beeninvolved in coaching in the Irish FA Club NI and GirlsExcellence Programmes. The rest of the staff havebeen involved in youth club player developmentprogrammes across Northern Ireland. The PrimarySchool Coaches have continued to work with theRegional Grassroots Development Officers in thecoordination of Small Sided Games programmes for5-a-side to 9-a-side across 30 venues throughoutNorthern Ireland. This partnership has continued inthe delivery of Holiday Camps during the Easter,Summer and Halloween periods.


of Belfast Playing Fields(Mallusk). 1,020 postprimary schoolgirls from52 schools (100 teams)throughout NorthernIreland attended theevent. Our Lady and StPatricks College (Knock)won the Year 8/9 sectionwhile Down HighGrammar claimed theYear 10/11 section.

As part of the FIFA ‘LiveYour Goals’ Programmethe IFA hosted the firstever FIFA ‘Live Your Goals’Press Conference for thewomen’s internationalteam prior to the WorldCup qualifying matchagainst Scotland in June.Ashley Hutton & AlfieWylie represented the IFAwhile Gemma Fay(Scottish captain) andAnna Signeul (Scottish

National Coach) were also in attendance. A numberof representatives from the media were in attendanceat the press conference including BBC Online, CoolFM and representatives from the Scottish FA. Inaddition, the Women’s Domestic Football Unitorganised a number of FIFA ‘Live Your Goals’ MatchDay Activities at Solitude prior to kick off, at halftime and after the match. These included facepainters, stilt walkers and balloon modellers.

In July the Association was invited by the Belfast LordMayor Nicholla Mallon to organise and deliver a‘Festival of Girls’ Football’ in the grounds of the CityHall. Six Belfast teams attended the event which wasplayed in the new IFA inflatable football pitch.

Organised in conjunction with the Women’s WorldCup Qualifying matches, nine Girls’ FootballRoadshows were delivered throughout the province.An impressive 1,024 primary and post-primary girlsattended the roadshows.

1,004 girls participated in the IFA Schools Indoor CupRegional Heats. Organised into three age groups (Year8/9; Year 10/11 & Year 12+) the heats were deliveredwithin six regions (Derry & North Tyrone; Fermanagh &South Tyrone; North Down; Antrim; South Down &gr

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Women’s DomesticFootballThe 2014 – 15 season kicked off for theWomen’s Domestic Football Unit with thelaunch of the IFA Girls’ & Women’s FootballPlan (2014 – 2018) at the Culloden Hotel.The event was attended by number of IFAsenior officials and FIFA Senior Women'sFootball Development Manager Mayi CruzBlanco. The IFA Girls’ and Women’s FootballPlan fits neatly into the overarching IFACorporate Strategy and identifies keyobjectives within the female game for thenext four years.

The eighth year of the IFA Schools SeniorCup produced an enthralling final atBallymena Showgrounds where Holy CrossCollege beat Thornhill College 4 – 1courtesy of goals from Chelsea Sherrin (3)and Katy McGillian.

The Women’s Domestic Football Unitdelivered the FIFA ‘Live Your Goals’ SchoolsSuper Festival on Wednesday 11 June at City


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Armagh; Belfast) and involved 136 teamsfrom 55 schools. The IFA Schools IndoorCup National Finals took place on Thursday20 November at the Valley Leisure Centre.175 girls from 24 schools participated in theevent. In the Year 8/9 category ParkhallCollege (Antrim) were crowned championsafter defeating St Louise’s Comprehensive 2- 0. In the Year 10/11 section the final waswon by St Louise’s Comprehensive with a 1-0victory over St Mary's College (Derry). In theYear 12 + section St Louise’s triumphedagainst Holy Cross College in a penaltyshoot-out (6-5) after the game finished 0 - 0in normal time.

As part of the of the IFA ‘Reach for yourgoals’ programme, funded through theUEFA Women’s Football DevelopmentProgramme, 10 women undertook the UEFA‘C’ Licence between 27 October – 2November at Seaview (Belfast).

The annual Women’s Club DevelopmentConference took place on Saturday 22November at Rathmore Grammar School.Organised into two streams; one forcoaches and one for administrators, the dayinvolved 45 volunteers from 26 girls’ andwomen’s clubs. In addition to working withclub officials the event gave 12 girls agedbetween 12 and 15 years of age theopportunity to undertake an introductoryreferee course. The innovative course wasaimed at encouraging more girls to getinvolved in refereeing and outlined thereferee development pathway currently inexistence for females in Northern Ireland.

The IFA Women’s Futsal Cup concluded onFriday 28 November. Organised over fourconsecutive Fridays at the Shankill LeisureCentre the competition involved 8 teamsand 89 players. Cliftonville Ladies overcameLinfield Ladies in the final to claim their firsttrophy in the six year history of the event.

Supported by Belfast City Council thewomen’s football season concluded withthe Female Football Fiesta at the ShankillLeisure Centre on Sunday 14 December.Incorporating U13, U15, seniors and a newmasters section the event involved 196players and included Belfast Deaf UnitedLadies and Women’s World United. This was

the first time that a disability team and an ethnicminority team had competed alongside themainstream women’s football clubs. Both teamsthoroughly enjoyed participating and gave a greataccount of themselves at the tournament. BelfastLord Mayor Nichola Mallon was in attendance at theevent and praised the IFA for their continued work indeveloping women’s football.

The IFA Female Football Leaders ProgrammeGraduation took place on Friday 16 January atStormont Buildings. Hosted by MLA MichelleMcIlveen the graduation celebrated the achievementsof the seven female leaders.

The IFA Girls Junior Futsal Cup concluded on Sunday 2February at the Shankill Leisure Centre. 38 teams atU11, U13, U15 and U17 participated in the four weekprogramme which involved 294 players.

112 girls from 6 schools (Belfast Royal Academy, GirlsModel, Mercy College, Hazelwood College, LismoreComprehensive and Clounagh JHS) attended two pilotSchools’ Futsal Tournaments in Shankill Lesiure Centreand Craigavon Leisure Centre on the 26 and 27February, respectively.

Coach EducationNational Coaching Weeks 2014During June 2014, the Irish FA Coach Educationdepartment delivered a wide range of coursesattracting a record number of local coaches as well astop international coaches and players from aroundthe world. A total of 310 coaches attended thevarious courses including the UEFA Pro, A and BLicences, the IFA Goalkeeping Diploma, the IFA YouthCertificate, Coaching Disabled Footballers Awards andother grassroots courses.


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Regional CoursesIn the past year the Irish FA organised anincreased number of Regional UEFA BLicence (part 1) courses throughout theprovince (Greysteel in September, Seaviewin October, Greysteel again in January,Belfast in March and Omagh in April 2015)

150 local coaches participated in theseregional courses. A further 900 attendedthe Irish FA Level 1 courses and 500attended the Irish FA Grassroots Introcourses which were organised by theGDO’s.

IFA / UEFA Pro Licence awardsThe Irish FA held their Pro Licence awardceremony at the Culloden Hotel onThursday 23rd October. Fifteen coachesreceived this top coaching qualification,which is acknowledged across the world asthe top coaching award in football. Manyguests from both the football world andlocal business attended the lunch. The IrishFA were delighted to welcome the formerInternational and current Bolton manager,Neil Lennon, as guest speaker, along with

Michael O’Neill, manager of the N IrelandInternational team.

UEFA A Licence GoalkeepingUEFA are currently training up tutors from the 4Home Nations Associations to deliver the new UEFAA Licence Goalkeeping Course. Alan Simpson andWilliam McFredrick are currently working towards thisqualification in order for the Irish FA to be in aposition to deliver this new award in 2016.

New advances in ITCoach Education has recently improved andmodernised their IT administration systems. TheNational Coaching Weeks brochure was digitised for2015 via a cross media campaign involving an onlinepageflip brochure, as well an online applicationprocess.

The Irish FA in conjunction with Academy SoccerCoach has also extended the portfolio of ‘onlinelearning’ modules available to coaches on Nutritionand Safeguarding. This online learning has beenincorporated into the IFA level 1 course and since itlaunched in Oct 2014 it has been extremely wellreceived by the candidates.


Community RelationsOver the last year, the CommunityRelations Department has evolved, and nowtakes the form of the innovative anddynamic, Football and Social ResponsibilityUnit, based within the FootballDevelopment Department at the Irish FA.We have made ground breakingachievements and advancements in ourwork, engaging individuals on aninternational, domestic and grassroots levelthrough the use of sport for education andoutreach.

Team NI were Champions at theHomeless World Cup in Chile

The NI Street Soccer team were crowned aschampions of the Accion Total Cup, at theHomeless World Cup tournament inSantiago, Chile. Following 9 months of trials,training and preparation, the 8 man squadtravelled to Chile, many having overcomeadversities of drug addiction, homelessnessand alcoholism, in order to make the life

Homeless World Cup team.

changing trip. The final saw NI defeat Denmark 10-6,and return to Northern Ireland as champions both onand off the pitch.

The Street Soccer project currently runs in Belfastand Derry/Londonderry, providing weekly footballtraining, educational support and personaldevelopment opportunities. The project provides asupportive environment for marginalised men, andencourages them to engage with their localcommunity, and participants from differentcommunities.

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Women’s World United took on theFemale MLA’s at Stormont

The Women’s World United team, made upof women from a range of ethnicbackgrounds, communities, both local andnewly arrived, took on a team of MLAs in amatch to mark Community Relations Week.With weekly training, friendly matches anda new kit, the Women’s World United teamwere ready to take on the opposition, andafter an exciting match, won 4-1.

Women’s World United provides weeklyfootball training for women in a fun, safeand inclusive environment. The projectprovides skills development workshops,supporting the women in their personaladvancement as well as their footballingability.

Young People had the chance to havetheir say on Football for All

Year 12 pupils from schools across Belfastand Derry/Londonderry had the opportunityto participate in an interactive workshopexploring the power of football in breakingdown barriers. Participants heard from JimMagilton and Declan Devine on their footballjourney, and how the sport affected theirlives and their communities, and had thechance to ask questions.

A key focus of the event was thedevelopment of the new National Stadium.At the start of the event, only 41% of youngpeople said they would feel comfortablegoing to watch NI play at the Stadium.Following an insight into the Football for Allcampaign, and inclusive work of the Irish FA,this rose by 35% at the end of the event – asignificant increase.

Our work with young people continues on aregular basis, with our Youth Forum. Comingfrom Belfast and Derry/Londonderry, the 15-18 year olds engage in a variety of activitiesto develop their skills in communication,leadership and teamwork. The main purposeof the group is to provide an opportunity foryoung people to have a meaningful voice inNI football, and to provide feedback oninitiatives being developed by theAssociation.

Funding and Projects‘Promoting Equality, Tackling Poverty andSocial Exclusion through Sport’ Programme

The Irish Football Association delivered a range ofprogrammes as part of the DCAL funded ‘PromotingEquality, Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusionthrough Sport’ Programme (2012 – 2015). This fundinghas provided invaluable support to some of ourexisting programmes using sport for socialdevelopment purposes, as well as support for newand innovative projects:

• Health Programme• Disability Football Programme • Club and Community Development Programme • Football for All• Enterprise Programme • Small Sided Games• Good Relations and Coach Education Programme

UEFA Respect Diversity

The Irish Football Association secured support fromUEFA’s Social Responsibility Unit for a number ofprojects to be rolled out across the FootballDevelopment Department. This support has allowedus to develop and implement the following projects:

• NI Masters Football Programme for men andwomen (35 years+)

• ‘Girls on the Ball’ Education Programme for Year 10girls

• IFA Schools Quality Mark • Futsal • Values Based Coaching


Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey with representatives ofGAA, Ulster Branch and David Martin, Deputy President of the IFA.

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• Annual Football DevelopmentConference

Multi-Sport Partnership

The Irish Football Association, Ulster GAAand IRFU (Ulster Branch) have developed apositive relationship through the delivery ofcollaborative programmes, sharingexperiences and methods of best practiceusing sport. There is a strong willingness forthe three governing bodies to build on thesignificant progress made as a result of thepartnership, particularly as part of the DSDfunded programme ‘Sport in theCommunity’.

It is apparent that the partnership is muchstronger and strategic together, particularlywith regards future funding to support ourwork in the areas of communitydevelopment, good relations, club andvolunteer development, and diversityprogrammes.

FIFA Support

The Irish Football Association recentlysecured support for a TV project betweenthe IFA and NIBFA, to stream live games onthe Internet. This online streaming facilitywill cover Mini Soccer Festivals, NationalLeague Games, Highlights Programme andall annual Cup Finals.

The partnership with provider Exsporté willrun for the next three seasons, and willprovide a number of other benefits to thegame such as increased talent identificationopportunities, improved match analysisquality and increased volunteeringopportunities.

The Irish Football Association have alsosecured over $500,000 from FIFA’s GOALprogramme to help support our playerdevelopment programme. The project willlook to engage young players in anacademic and educational and trainingprogramme. The Irish FA have identified theneed for a partnership with a post primaryschool to maximise our engagement andprovide a more strategic and sustainableapproach to developing our young players

involved in the Irish FA Elite Football programme.

‘Sport in the Community’

‘Sport in the Community’ is a joint club and volunteercapacity building programme with the Irish FootballAssociation, Ulster GAA and IRFU (Ulster Branch). Theprogramme is funded by the Department for SocialDevelopment, has been running since 2012 and is in itsfinal year of delivery.

Since its inception, the Irish Football Association hasdeveloped a wealth of resources for clubs andvolunteers, an Irish FA Volunteer Policy and the ClubExcellence Mark accreditation programme. Throughthe IFA Club and Community Development Officerand IFA Volunteer Development Officer, we have alsodelivered a range of club and communitydevelopment programmes, diversity programmes,volunteer promotion and development programmes:

• 23 volunteer programmes delivered• Over 1500 volunteering opportunities created• Over 600 volunteers engaged in the programme • Over 400 new volunteers engaged in the

programme• Over 100 clubs are actively engaged in the IFA Club

Excellence process• Over 15 clubs have achieved IFA Club Excellence 1

star

On 25 March 2015, Social Development Minister,Mervyn Storey MLA, announced a funding boost of£175,000 to three of Northern Ireland’s sportingbodies to support volunteering. The Department forSocial Development (DSD) has awarded the IrishFootball Association (IFA), Ulster GAA, and the IrishRugby Football Union’s Ulster Branch funding tosupport their joint ‘Sport in the Community – a homefor lifelong volunteering' programme.


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Under 11 Plate Linfield 2 v 0 St. Oliver PlunkettUnder 11 Cup Lurgan Town 2 v 1 Portadown Youth (AET)Under 12 Plate Lurgan Town 2 v 1 St. Oliver PlunkettUnder 12 Cup Windmill Stars 2 v 1 Oxford SunnysideUnder 13 Cup Portadown Youth 4 v 2 Lisburn RangersUnder 14 Cup Glentoran 4 v 3 CliftonvilleUnder 15 Cup Glentoran 4 v 2 LinfieldUnder 16 Cup Linfield 4 v 3 CliftonvilleUnder 17 Cup Crusaders 3 v 2 Linfield

Northern Ireland Boys’Football Association(NIBFA)NIBFA membership for season 2014/15 hasreached 1156 teams, with an estimated18,000 players participating in 9 Leagues anddevelopment centres.

NIBFA Knock Out Competitions

For age groups from U11 to U17 these serveas the boys’ football equivalent of the FACup. The popularity of the 9 a side formatintroduced in the U11 age group in 13/14 wasextended to include the U12 group this yearagain with great success. The growth of thesmall sided games is credit to the IFAdevelopment strategy. To show NIBFAsupport to this work we offered a Cupcompetition and a supplementary platecompetition for teams eliminated in thefirst round. The standards on showreflected the great development work

going on at clubs throughout the country.

The 2014/15 finals were held at Mid Ulster SportsArena, Cookstown, on Bank Holiday Monday 4th May.

Mallusk Games Festivals 2014 - (39th AnnualTournament)

First Saturday – Small sided games festival with 112teams and over 1000 children for 8, 9, 10 and 11 yearolds helping to promote the advantages of smallsided games in player development.Second Saturday – 11 a side festival of football U12 toU16 inclusive

NIBFA National Youth League

Now completing its 7th season the league attemptsto provide a more consistently competitivecompetition. Currently 133 teams compete in six agegroups split into divisions with opportunities forpromotion and development progress in the U12, 13,14, 15, 16 and U17 age groups. The league works closelywith the IFA on their various programmes for playerdevelopment. Full details of the league and itscompeting teams can be found onwww.nibfanational.co.uk

Crusaders u17 winners Windmill Stars u12 winners Lurgan Town u11 winners

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Northern Ireland Schools’ Football Association (NISFA)Inspiresport NISFA Schools Quarter Final Festival (Wednesday 25th February 2015 atMallusk)One of the biggest events in school sports took place at Mallusk Playing Fields on Wednesday 25thFebruary when the Northern Ireland Schools Football Association (NISFA) hosted the InspiresportQuarter Finals Football Festival Day.

Spectators were treated to 21 exciting and competitive matches across 8 different competitions, with42 teams and over 600 talented players involved. The festival was not short of goals either, and had anastounding total of 93 goals across all age-groups. The proceedings began at 11.30 am and continueduntil late afternoon with exciting drama from start to finish.

Inspiresport NISFA Schools Final DAY (Wednesday 29th April at BallymenaShowgrounds)

The fifth Schools Cup Finals Festival day was held at Ballymena Showground’s in association with newsponsor Inspiresport on Wednesday 29th April 2015. This year there were 20 teams involved in 10exciting Finals.

Inspiresport Schools Cup – 2015 Roll of Honour

Inspiresport Youth U18 Cup – St. Columb’s CollegeInspiresport Youth U18 Plate – Foyle CollegeInspiresport Senior U16 Cup – Belfast Boys ModelInspiresport Senior U16 Plate – Edmund Rice CollegeSmall Schools Cup (U15) – St. Colmcille’s HS (Crossgar)Inspiresport Intermediate U14 Cup – St. Columb’s CollegeInspiresport Intermediate U14 Plate - LismoreSmall Schools Cup (U13) – St. Joseph’s (Donaghmore)Inspiresport Minor U12 Cup - Holy Cross (Strabane)Inspiresport Minor U12 Plate – Devenish College

INTERNATIONALS

U-18At Under-18 level Northern Ireland regained the Lynn Nicholson Trophy with a 6-1 victory againstGuernsey and 1-0 victory against Jersey. The squad were very unlucky throughout the InspiresportCentenary Shield campaign but showed real character throughout the competition and performedright until the very end. The squad earned a 2-2 draw against England at Eastleigh FC in their openingfixture. They were then narrowly defeated 3-2 by the Republic of Ireland at Ballinamallard FC. They didhowever earn two victories in their final two fixtures of the competition with a 2-0 win againstScotland at Comber Rec FC and a 4-1 win against Wales at Ystard Mynach.

Inspiresport U18 Centenary Shield: Final League Table

Teams P W D L F A PTSRepublic of Ireland 4 3 1 0 7 4 10England 4 2 1 1 7 3 7Northern Ireland 4 2 1 1 10 6 7Scotland 4 1 1 2 3 7 4Wales 4 0 0 4 3 10 0

Irish Football Association20 Windsor Avenue, Belfast BT9 6EG,

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