'One of the best things' - Foyle Cup player past helping drive Altrincham coaching for next generation

Having initially experienced the youth tournament as a player, Jarrald’s return as a coach presents an opportunity to build on his North West experiences.

"As a club Altrincham have been coming over to the Foyle Cup for the last 11 years and I have been fortunate enough to have been involved over the past five years," said Jarrald. "I was a player for the first two years and a coach for the last three...so this competition holds a special place for me.

"I had never been over in Northern Ireland before that first visit...it was one of the best things I did as a kid.

"It's obviously been different for me to experience it both as a player and now as a coach and it's great seeing these young players build their own special memories of the place.

"It takes me back to when I first came over...such a special place.

"Our Head of Academy is Irish and he knows a lot of people from the area, so that helped us build up the bond here and we just love coming back every year.

"It's a great place and the teams and the community that it brings together is brilliant."

Jarrald reached two finals on the pitch without trophy success.

"Yeah unfortunately I didn't get to win the Foyle Cup as a player here, but we did get to the final twice," he said. "We lost 3-1 to Motherwell in one of the finals...I can't remember who we played the other year, but I do remember we lost out on penalties.

"It was a sore one to take at the time, but it didn't change my overall experience of the tournament.

"We have a good bunch of lads with us this year and of course we will be doing all we can to win but we know there will be a few tough games ahead, that's all part of it though.

"I'm really enjoying the coaching side of things.

"It's very different to being a player though and can obviously be a bit more stressful, but it's a fantastic privilege to be able to play a part in helping these young players develop.

"And getting to come away to tournaments like the Foyle Cup and share new experiences as well as going home with special memories just caps it off."

The Foyle Cup will feature over 20,000 players, coaches and officials, with a record tally of 1,013 teams over 3,942 fixtures across six days.

The organisers would like to thank the valued network of partners and sponsors including Derry City & Strabane District Council, Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council, O'Neills Sportswear, Derry Credit Union, Apex Housing, Ark Housing Association, Choice Housing, Radius Housing, Seagate, Inner City Trust, Brunswick Moviebowl, Ulster University and North West Regional College.

Visit the official O’Neills Foyle Cup website for full results and fixtures (www.foylecup.com).