International recognition for Matt Ball
First-year scholar Matt Ball has been called into the Northern Ireland Under-17 squad this week for two friendly fixtures against Norway in Ballymoney.
The games are being used as a warm-up for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite phase which take place later this month.
Northern Ireland have been drawn in Group Four alongside Spain, Poland and Belgium. Northern Ireland have also been selected as group hosts, meaning all fixtures will be played in Northern Ireland on March 17, 19 and 22.
Northern Ireland have already progressed through the qualifying stages of the tournament with wins against Malta and Andorra, before a narrow defeat to the Netherlands.
Should they progress through the elite phase of the competition they will then qualify for the final phase of the tournament to be held in Liechtenstein in May this year.
Hopefully Matt will impress in the two friendly games against Norway and cement a place in the Northern Ireland squad for the elite phase of the tournament. With the games being played at home, they should have a good chance of qualifying for the finals.
Should Matt be selected in the squad I will of course keep you updated of his progress in a future edition of the programme.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish Matt the best of luck for the upcoming friendly matches and hope he goes on to represent his country again later this month.
Postponed matches
The weather has had an affect on proposed matches at the training ground again recently with last weekend's games against Charlton Athletic being postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
There are currently three youth team fixtures which need to be rearranged, two of which are due to be played at Colney. We are currently in discussions with our opposition and will update you as and when those fixtures have been confirmed as your support at the training ground would be very much appreciated by the young lads.
Hopefully over the coming weeks the weather will improve and we can get back to hosting fixtures at Colney without the doubt of adverse weather conditions.
Ricky Martin
Academy Manager
