The Holland Cup in its 31^st season is taking place in Almere, a small town just outside Amsterdam. Teams travel from across Europe to compete at a range of age levels. The competition in the past has welcomed over 200 teams from 12 different countries.

The Isle of Man under 11’s have been drawn in groups with teams from Holland, Denmark, France, Belgium & England, all of which will provide unique and memorable competitive experiences for the squad.

The coaching team of Juan Kinvig and Mark Watterson are both very pleased with the progress made by the group.

Juan explained “We are going into an International tournament with an enormous sense of excitement & confidence. The boys have equipped themselves superbly in training over the course of the last few months and are hopefully ready to put the Isle of Man on the map in terms of their attitudes & ability”.

Mark (who has been instrumental in the organisation of the trip) added: “We wanted to give the boys the best chance & opportunity to experience something a bit different. The Holland Cup is probably the largest youth football tournament in Europe and it just felt right for this particular group of boys, who have been a credit to themselves and the Centre since they were selected back in September, to pit themselves against teams who will offer a genuine test in terms of their progress to date”.

The Isle of Man Football Association would like to thank the generosity of Tesco and Shoprite in allowing space to fundraise, and also for the kind sponsorship received for the group from EPL Recruitment. A particular special thank you however must be given to the main sponsor Paysafe for their very kind donation towards the trip.

 Boys Under 11’s squad pictured above in Paysafe branded kit.