Celtic’s u-19 side are in the spotlight today when they take on Manchester United in Coleraine to kick off the annual Milk Cup.
The competition is the biggest youth football event in the north east of Ireland, starting off in 1983 with a certain Neil Lennon of Motherwell one of the early participants.
Ahead of the youth tournament Celtic will take on Manchester United in a match that will be televised live by BBC Northern Ireland and available elsewhere through Sky and Virgin.
Celtic’s u-19 squad is also effectively the reserve squad for the season ahead- and hopefully the UEFA Youth League which mirrors the Champions League groups.
With a couple of additions here and there the Celtic squad has come through the Academy ranks with most of tonight’s side playing in the 4-0 Glasgow Cup Final win over Sevco at Ibrox in 2016.
Last season was a tough one in the Development League when they were giving away two years or more in every fixture with half of the schedule squeezed into the final three months.
There were some sore results during that period but also lessons and experiences gained.
So far this season the squad, managed by Tommy McIntyre and Shaun Maloney, have played against the first team’s of East Kilbride, Partick Thistle, Cliftonville and Kelty Hearts.
Mikey Johnston has already taken the step up, on show today at Coleraine there is certain to be more future first team players.