Derry and District League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Derry and District League is an amateur football league in Derry. The league includes youth and senior football teams. The Senior Sunday League has two divisions, the Premier and the First Division. The Youth Leagues have one league for each age group, from under-10 up to under-17. Teams such as Don Bosco's F.C. and Tristar Boys F.C. have numerous teams competing at every level. Other senior teams include Brandywell Harps F.C., Trojans F.C. and, in the First Division, Lisahally F.C. The league has witnessed a rise in popularity in recent years, and youth teams, such as Foyle Harps Y.F.C. and the Derry and District Youth Select have competed on an international level both in China and Spain respectively. In 2006 the Derry and District under-14 team travelled to Barcelona to challenge in the prestigious Copa Catalunya International Youth Tournament. They finished runners up. Foyle Harps travelled to China on an international relations trip. There, they visited places of cultural significance and played football against some of China's top youth teams. There is also a Saturday Morning League operating in Derry. The League also sends youth teams to the Foyle Cup and in 2005 the under-16 team finished runners up in the competition, losing out to Ferencvaros. Many of the players in that team have since signed professional contracts. Ruari Harkin signed with Charlton and Danny Lafferty signed with Scottish giants, Celtic. Paul King, Kevin Deery, Barry Molloy and Patrick McCourt are now Derry City players, after playing youth football in the league.