{"id":946181,"date":"2026-05-08T13:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/946181\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T13:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:54:16","slug":"youth-football-stars-shine-at-the-niyfa-subway-cup-finals-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/946181\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth football stars shine at the NIYFA Subway Cup Finals Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Ireland Youth FA (NIYFA) staged a thrilling Subway Cup Finals Day as more than 500 players and over 2,000 spectators gathered at the Mid Ulster Sports Arena in Cookstown<\/a> for a celebration of youth football at its very best.<\/p>\n

A total of 34 teams from across the country went head-to-head in a high-quality showcase of the boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 Cup and Plate competitions, all competing for national honours.<\/p>\n

There were standout performances across the day, with Linfield and Glentoran both securing double success in the Girls\u2019 Cup competitions, underlining their strength across multiple age groups.<\/p>\n

In the Boys\u2019 Cup, silverware was shared among Portadown, Ballymena United, Linfield, Cliftonville, Larne and St Oliver Plunkett, reflecting the strength and competitiveness of the grassroots game across Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

The finals action got underway on Friday evening as Cliftonville edged out Linfield in a dramatic NIYFA Subway U14 Boys\u2019 Cup final at Ulidia Playing Fields. In a five-goal thriller, the Reds came from behind to claim victory after extra-time, with a decisive double from O\u2019Connor proving the difference.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: IN PICTURES: Glory for youth teams at NIYFA Cup Finals<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s programme delivered further drama, including a tense U11 Boys\u2019 Cup decider where Portadown overcame Glenavon in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.<\/p>\n

Ballymena United claimed the U12 title following a 4-2 extra-time win over Glenavon, while Linfield produced a dominant display to lift the U13 Cup with a 5-0 victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larne secured the U16 crown with a 4-2 win over Cliftonville, inspired by a hat-trick from Eoin Harden, and St Oliver Plunkett completed the line-up of winners with a 3-0 success against Ards in the U17 final.<\/p>\n

In the Girls\u2019 Cup finals, Linfield Ladies impressed in the U11 decider with a 4-1 win over Mid Ulster Ladies, while Linfield also claimed the U14 title courtesy of a narrow 1-0 victory over Glentoran. Glentoran responded with success in the U12 and U13 finals, securing back-to-back wins over Bloomfield Girls.<\/p>\n

The Plate competitions also delivered strong contests across all age groups. Sion Swifts Tornados lifted the U11 Girls\u2019 Plate, Ballymena United edged the U12 final on penalties, Mid Ulster Ladies secured a 5-0 win in the U13 decider, and Lisbellaw United claimed the U14 title.<\/p>\n

In the Boys\u2019 Plate finals, Glentoran recorded a 4-0 win over Cliftonville in the U11 decider, while Moyola Park Youth secured the U12 honours with a 5-2 victory over St Oliver Plunkett Colts.<\/p>\n

Across both Cup and Plate competitions, the NIYFA Subway Cup Finals Day once again highlighted the quality, passion and competitive spirit within youth football in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

Kirstey Elston, Senior Director, Marketing EMEA at Subway said:\u00a0\u201cWe were delighted to continue our partnership with NIYFA as part of our wider Fresh Moves programme, helping people lead more active lives across the UK and Ireland. Finals Day showcased a brilliant community of players, fans, volunteers and coaches, and we\u2019re proud to support the development the game at this level and nurture the stars of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Hutton, Chair of the NIYFA said:\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly proud of every player who stepped onto the pitch on Finals Day. You could see what it meant to them in every tackle, every goal and every moment shared with teammates and families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been an outstanding year of NIYFA Cup football across Northern Ireland, and the quality on show throughout both the Cup and Plate competitions has been exceptional. Finals Day is about more than silverware. It is about recognising the journey these players have been on and giving them a stage to express themselves and enjoy their football.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hugely grateful for the continued support of our main partner Subway, whose backing plays a vital role in creating opportunities like this for young players across the country. Our thanks also go to Exsport\u00e9 for capturing the action and to Mid Ulster District Council for hosting such an outstanding occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, we want to recognise the people behind the scenes. The coaches, referees, volunteers and families who give so much to the game. Their commitment is what makes days like this possible and continues to drive youth football forward across Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

NIYFA Subway Finals Day\u00a0Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

Girls\u2019 Cup Finals –<\/strong> U11:\u00a0Linfield 4-1 Mid Ulster Ladies; U12:\u00a0Glentoran 1-1 Bloomfield Girls (Glentoran win 4-3 on pens); U13:\u00a0Glentoran 3-2 Bloomfield Girls; U14:\u00a0Linfield 1-0 Glentoran<\/p>\n

Girls\u2019 Plate Finals –<\/strong> U11:\u00a0Sion Swifts Tornados 3-0 Tristar Ladies; U12:\u00a0Ballymena United 1-1 Magherafelt Sky Blues (Ballymena win 4-3 on pens); U13:\u00a0Mid Ulster Ladies 5-0 Belfast Swifts; U14:\u00a0Lisbellaw United 1-0 Tristar Ladies<\/p>\n

Boys\u2019 Cup Finals –<\/strong> U11:\u00a0Glenavon 1-1 Portadown (Portadown win 3-1 on pens); U12:\u00a0Ballymena United 4-2 Glenavon (AET); U13:\u00a0Linfield 5-0 Glenavon; U14:\u00a0Cliftonville 3-2 Linfield (AET); U15:\u00a0Cliftonville 1-0 Glenavon; U16:\u00a0Larne 4-2 Cliftonville; U17:\u00a0St Oliver Plunkett 3-0 Ards<\/p>\n

Boys\u2019 Plate Finals-<\/strong> U11:\u00a0Glentoran 4-0 Cliftonville; U12:\u00a0Moyola Park Youth 5-2 St Oliver Plunkett Colts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Northern Ireland Youth FA (NIYFA) staged a thrilling Subway Cup Finals Day as more than 500 players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":946182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[124510,16767,1144,16,15],"class_list":["post-946181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-county-derry","tag-derry","tag-northern-ireland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116539298164345835","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}