Foyle Cup: Parade marks football tournament's return

Matches take place across the north west over the next six days

Thousands of young footballers are in Londonderry for one of Northern Ireland's biggest football tournaments.

A record 600 teams are taking part in this year's Foyle Cup.

Clubs from across the island of Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America are participating, with matches being held across the north-west.

Tournament secretary Philp Devlin told the BBC's The North West Today the Foyle Cup has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1992.

The teams taking part this year will play more than 2,500 games over the next six days

"The first Foyle Cup was organised by the Derry and District Youth Football Association, with it being only an eight-team event," Mr Devlin said.

"It has grown immensely over those 31 years, with us now hosting over 2,500 matches over these six days."

The parade made its way through the city and finished at Guildhall Square

A few matches kicked off on Monday but the tournament officially opened with the parade - which started at Ulster University's Magee Campus - on Tuesday morning.

Mr Devlin said the welcome that the footballers, coaches, managers and parents receive from the local community is second to none.

The best local teams compete with clubs from across Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America

"They talk about how nice the people are here and how truly accommodating people are in this part of the world," Mr Devlin said.

"It's more than just football, people leave here with memories that will last a lifetime."

He said organising a tournament of this scale is incredibly difficult, but praised the huge amount of volunteers who give up their time to ensure the event runs smoothly.

Former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland footballer John O'Shea got pictures with excited young footballers

One team from Derry hoping to make their mark on the tournament this year is the Oxford Bulls.

The Bulls, which plays out of Bay Road Soccer centre in the city, consists of footballers with Down's syndrome.

Footballers from the Oxford Bulls team in Londonderry led the Foyle Cup parade in the city's centre on Tuesday

Kevin Morrison, whose son Adam plays for the team, said they are all very proud and excited for the Bulls to be leading this year's parade.

"To have a tournament like this right on our doorstep is just fantastic for our players," he said.

A few matches kicked off on Monday but the tournament opened officially with the parade on Tuesday morning.

"Representation is important and to have our players front and centre of the parade is going to be very special."

Mr Morrison said that there will be four clubs competing in the disability section of the tournament this year.

"When we first started competing in the Foyle Cup we had about 20 participants in that section, but now we have more than 40, which is just brilliant.

"There will be teams with disabilities from places like Lurgan, Newry and Derry and it's really great to see this section of the tournament continue to grow."

More than 600 teams are taking part this year

Coaches Gemma Peston, Artu Jalasuaara and 14-year-old captain, Aamos Oinas, are with the Finnish side FD Suomi Bios.

"The most interesting thing for the players is to see what the level and style of play is like here in the UK and Ireland," Artu said.

"The way the game is played in Finland is different, youth players there are more technical, while teams here would typically be more physical."

The team, which is made up of both Finnish youth players from different teams and some players selected from the UK, play Derry City in their opening game.

Coaches Gemma Peston, Artu Jalasuaara and 14-year-old captain Aamos Oinas are with the Finnish side FD Suomi Bios

Aamos said their players are confident going into the competition and hope to have a pretty good chance of going far in the tournament.

He plays regularly for his local side, FC Santa Claus, in Lapland and has played for FD Suomi in Finland, Sweden, Germany, and soon the island of Ireland.

Gemma Pescott said FDS Suomi Bios, which has bases in the UK and Finland, take part in a number of youth competitions across Europe.

"This tournament is just fantastic, and our coaches would probably say this one would be one of the best just because of the great atmosphere that's created," Ms Pescott said.

"I was here last year and the parade was just this massive thing, it was fantastic."

The week-long tournament runs until Saturday 22 July.