UCD will become the second Irish club to participate in the prestigious UEFA Youth League after confirmation from UEFA yesterday that Ireland’s U19 champions will compete in the 2017/18 competition.
The UEFA Youth League involves the Under-19 teams of the 32 UEFA Champions League entrants, joined by the youth domestic champions of 32 nations.
Clubs whose senior teams are in the UEFA Champions League mirror those fixtures while the 32 teams in the Domestic Champions path compete in two knockout rounds of home-and-away ties to produce eight survivors.
They will then who progress to play-offs to meet the eight UEFA Champions League group runners-up.
The news comes as a boost to the club, who currently lie third in the SSE Airtricity League First Division as well as to the new under age national league structure which is taking a real hold in the thinking of clubs.
Cork City became the first Irish club to qualify for the UEFA Youth League last year where they eliminated Finnish champions HJK 1-0 on aggregate then went down 4-1 on aggregate to AS Roma after two thrilling encounters.
The draw for this year’s tournament takes place next week with the first round of matches taking place on September 27th and October 18th.
Among the teams who UCD could face are Inter Milan, Ajax, Sparta Prague and Dynamo Kiev.
When UCD’s senior team qualified for the Europa League through the Fair Play system in 2015 it allowed them to clear a legacy debt built up over years of maintaining as high as possible a place in the Premier League. It set the club on an even keel as was highlighted in their approach to the strategic planning over the next five years.
UCD beat Galway United 4-1 in the SSE Airtricity U19 League Final last October. They are currently top of the Southern Section of this season’s SSE Airtricity U19 League.
FAI Director of Competitions Fran Gavin believes UCD’s qualification for the UEFA Youth League will provide the SSE Airtricity League underage structures with another boost.
“We are very pleased to receive confirmation from UEFA of UCD’s qualification for the 2017/18 UEFA Youth League,” said FAI Director of Competitions Fran Gavin.
“UCD have a long history of producing excellent young teams and their players will relish the chance to pit their wits against the champion clubs from other UEFA nations. Their first team did very well in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers two years ago so it would be great if their U19s could emulate those performances.”
“The SSE Airtricity League underage structure is about providing the best young players in the country with a chance to be tested at a higher level and the UEFA Youth League opportunity gives them another fantastic learning experience.”
UCD Head of Youth Development Albert Sugg says the club is delighted with today’s news and relishing the chance of performing on the European stage.
“We didn’t get our hopes up for this but we said that if it happened we’d be ready for it. It’s a great challenge for the club and a good reward for the lads who won the league last season,” he said.
“The U19s team is currently top of the Southern Section and are in the Enda McGuil Cup Final so we’ve kept up where we left off last year. There’s a good nucleus of lads left over from last season and we’ve promoted a lot of the lads who were beaten in the U17 final last year.
“We knew we’d be competitive this year while as champions everybody wants to knock you down but the players and staff have put a lot of hard work in and have a lot to play for still.”
UCD AFC, Cabinteely FC, the FAI, AIB and Bank of Ireland are active members of the Sport for Business community.
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