This week the 'Elite Teams' have been finalised and the group includes a mix of emerging talented players from Ireland, Ipswich Town, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Leeds United, Leicester City, Donegal District League and MSK Zilina, Slovakia's top club.
A team to watch this year in the Elite section of the competition is MSK Zilina from Slovakia, who are one of the most successful clubs in Slovak top division (since 1993), having won 4 titles in the last 6 years. One of the club's most notable players of the modern time is Marek Mintál, in two successive seasons he was the top goal scorer in the league with 21 and 20 goals respectively, and was a major contributor to ilina winning their three Slovakian titles and earning himself a move to 1. FC Nuremberg of Germany. In the past, ilina's senior team has played against the likes of Chelsea and other top European clubs. The U15 squad of Zilina players selected to play in the 'Elite Group' of the Umbro Galway Cup recently won the 'Nike Cup' in Slovakia. The U15 team has also beaten top clubs from Austria, Poland and Croatia in other International tournaments.
Other Elite teams to watch include Ipswich Town, who return to defend their title led by Tony Humes and Sammy Morgan, a former Northern Ireland International. Newcastle United includes a mix of two age groups U16 and U15 who have competed throughout the year against teams such as Manchester United, Sunderland and Leeds United in a Development League.
The Umbro Galway Cup is in its 4th successful year and is becoming a major contributor to the promotion of sports in Ireland, and the generator of substantial tourism revenues for the City of Galway. It is a member of the Umbro International tournament group since January 2006 and along with the Donosti Cup in San Sebastian in Spain, the Dana Cup in Denmark and the Dublin Cup among others the Umbro Galway Cup is now considered one of the leading underage soccer competitions around the globe. To register a team or to receive more information on the Galway Cup 2008 please visit www.galwaycup.com or contact Denis Burke, Tournament Director on info@galwaycup.com or +353 (0)91 521177.