Managers Unveil Squads for Four Nations Tournament
Managers Unveil Squads for Four Nations Tournament
Don O'Riordan will lead his charges across the water to take part in four nation tournament. Pic:Sportsfile
The four squads for the Four Nations Tournament next week have been announced, along with details of the job manager Don O'Riordan faces.
Between 14th and 18th May at Boston United and Kettering Town, John Owens, manager of the England National Game XI will be seeking to win the first Trophy of a busy summer for England squads, as he pits his wits against his counterparts from Wales, Scotland and Republic of Ireland.
Thanks to the support of the Hertfordshire based company Henkel - who have a history of sports sponsorship - and the work of The F.A.’s Greg Fee and Mike Appleby who have worked hard to re-introduce an end-of-season showcase competition, players from the four countries will be playing for the Unibond Four Nations Tournament.
Already sponsors of the Unibond Northern Premier League since 1994, sponsors of Rugby Union side Saracens for the past twelve months, and former sponsors of Watford Football Club (for three years in the mid-eighties through their Solvite brand), Dick Morris, Executive Director of said:
“I am delighted for Unibond to be sponsoring the Four Nations Tournament. With the host football clubs having had such wonderful league winning triumphs this season and supporters hopefully looking for a further football fix before the World Cup kicks off, I hope football fans across the country come and support what should be a very open competition.”
Players will have an added incentive to perform with England Team Sponsor Nationwide providing a bottle of champagne for the Man-of-the-Match at each of the six games.
After wins over the USA and Holland this year, England Manager John Owens has backed the players who have contributed to the extension of his twelve match unbeaten run. Junior McDougald of Dagenham & Redbridge and Adam Stansfield of Yeovil Town get the chance to further raise their profiles after both being forced to withdraw through injury from the game against the USA.
Despite co-hosts Boston United winning promotion to the Football League after a last-day win at Hayes, there is no room in the England squad for any of Steve Evans’ men. Said Owens:
“Throughout this seasons Representative XI and International Fixtures I have not been able to use any Boston players; in fact they were required to play a league game the same night that we played Holland last month.
It is unfortunate for those players but it provides players who have stepped into the squad and have performed so well recently a further chance to impress, this time in a Tournament format.”
Out of the three other countries, it is the Welsh that are the most familiar opponents for the hosts.
Tommi Morgan of League of Wales side Carmarthen Town will be seeking to take the Unibond Four Nations Tournament trophy back across the Severn Bridge, and will be able to call on two players who have been capped at Senior International level.
Dagenham & Redbridge goalkeeper Tony Roberts and Bangor City midfielder Simon Davies have earnt two caps and one full cap respectively, whilst Roberts and Newport County goalkeeper Pat Mountain also have two Under-21 caps each.
There are six players from the Nationwide Conference included in Morgan’s squad, but up front, he will be able to call on the services of a striker who will be in next season’s UEFA Cup after scoring 47 goals this season for Bangor City – Marc Lloyd Williams – and three players from Barry Town who will be challenging in the Champions League next season and won ‘The Double’ after today beating Bangor City 4-1 in the Welsh F.A. Cup Final.
Morgan himself scored Wales’s second goal in a 3-1 win over England (formerly Semi-Pro’s) in 1986 at Merthyr Tydfil, with a lob from 25 yards.
The Scotland side has been brought together for the first time under the Scottish F.A.’s Head of Youth Development Jim Sinclair.
Comprising players from the Highland League and East of Scotland League, Sinclair, who is also Head Coach of Scotland’s U-18 side will be looking to his former mentor Craig Brown for inspiration, who as well as being Sinclair’s boss at the SFA, also had Sinclair the player under his wing at Clyde. In fact, Sinclair won three league championships in his playing career, also playing for Hamilton Academicals.
The Scottish side today met at Stirling’s Forthbank Stadium where they played a warm-up match in preparation for the tournament against a Queens Park XI, with Richard Davidson of Iverurie Loco Works gaining a place in the squad, reward for a fine first season with his side in the Highland League.
Don O’Riordan, Manager of Eircom Division One side Sligo Rovers, will manage the Republic of Ireland. O’Riordan made over 500 appearances in the Football League with Derby, Preston North End, Carlisle United, Middlesbrough, Grimsby, Notts County and Torquay United.
As a Schoolboy he captained Ireland Under 15’s and also represented the Under 18’s, before being called into the Senior squad three times, without taking to the pitch.
The Irish will be looking to a striker used to playing on the big stage for their inspiration, after Boston United’s Daryl Clare was ruled out through injury.
Trevor Molloy of Bohemians has been the subject of intense transfer speculation this season, and after being a member of the Irish side that finished third in the 1997 World Youth Championships, he scored the winning goal for his club side to gain an historic UEFA Cup victory to knock out German side Kaiserslautern.
At the heart of the Irish defence will be former Ireland Under-21 international Clive Delaney who may line-up alongside David Crawley, captain of the Dundalk side who gained a shock FAI Cup Final victory over favourites Bohemians this season. On the left wing, Tony Gorman who has won two League Championships in Northern Ireland with Linfield is expected to be the main creative source for O’Riordan’s squad.
Peter Mallinger, Chairman of Kettering Town, and John Blackwell, Secretary/General Manager of Boston United issued a similar rallying cry to their supporters this week.
Mallinger said:
“We have had a wonderful season at Kettering this season, winning promotion back to the Conference at the first attempt. We will be celebrating our league win on Saturday 10th May, and will be asking our supporters who have been great this season to come out and support the Tournament. With a large Scottish population in nearby Corby, it would be great to see some big crowds at Rockingham Road.”
Blackwell added:
“York Street has never hosted an International of any nature, and it is a real privilege for everyone at Boston United to co-host the Unibond Four Nations Tournament. After winning the Conference and with League Football to look forward to in August, I hope our supporters come out in force and get behind what is a very important development for players across the National Leagues System.”
The match schedule is as follows:
Tuesday 14th May – 7.30pm Kick-Off
England v Wales – Boston United
Scotland v Rep. of Ireland – Kettering Town
Thursday 16th May – 7.30pm Kick-Off
England v Rep. of Ireland – Boston United
Scotland v Wales – Kettering Town
Saturday 18th May – 2pm Kick-Off
Wales v Rep. of Ireland – Boston United
England v Scotland – Kettering Town
Squads:
England National Game XI:
Wayne Brown (Chester City), Andy Woods (Scarborough), Simon Wormull (Stevenage Borough), Terry Skiverton, (Yeovil Town), Jason Goodliffe (Stevenage Borough), Tim Ryan (Doncaster Rovers), Neil Moore (Telford United), Anthony Tonkin (Yeovil Town), Nick Roddis (Margate), Mark Stimson (Grays Athletic),
Stewart Drummond (Morecambe), Mark Gower (Barnet), Steve Watson (Farnborough Town), Darren Stride (Burton Albion), Aaron Webster (Burton Albion), Junior McDougald (Dagenham & Redbridge), Kirk Jackson (Stevenage Borough), Adam Stansfield (Yeovil Town)
Scotland:
Scott Anderson (Buckie Thistle), Ross Archibald (Whitehill Welfare), William Bennett (Whitehill Welfare), John Campbell (Fort William), Richard Davidson (Inverurie Locos), Steve Dolan (Deveronvale), Raleigh Gowrie (Spartans), Richard Hart (Brora Rangers), Scott Hunter (Whitehill Welfare), Phillip Johnston (Vale of Leven), Paul McGinlay (Threave Rovers), Craig Manson (Spartans), Derek Milne (Fraserburgh), Ian Murray (Deveronvale), Philip O’Neil (Lothian Thistle), Michael Rae (Buckie Thistle), Michael Stephen (Fraserburgh), Jamie Watt (Deveronvale)
Republic of Ireland:
Seamus Kelly (St Pats), Barry Ryan (UCD); Owen Heary (Shelbourne), David Crawley (Dundalk), Clive Delaney (UCD), Paul McNally (Longford), Jodie Lynch (Bray), Alan Murphy (Galway), Derek O’Brien (Galway), Tony Gorman (Linfield), Paul Osam (St Pats), Billy Woods (Shamrock Rovers), Stuart Byrne (Longford), Tony Grant (Shamrock Rovers), Trevor Molloy Bohemians),Vinny Arkins (Portadown), Kevin McHugh (Finn Harps), Jason Byrne (Bray)
Wales:
Tony Roberts (Dagenham and Redbridge), Pat Mountain (Newport County), Lee Woodyatt (Chester), Tony James (Hereford), Neil O’Brien (Carmarthen), Gary Lloyd (Barry), Andrew York (Barry), Matthew Court (Forest Green), Ricky Evans (TNS), Mike Flynn (Barry), Nathan Davies (Newport County), Simon Davies (Bangor), Paul Parry (Hereford), Marc Lloyd-Williams (Bangor), Gavin Williams (Hereford), Mark Dickeson (Llanelli), Graham Evans (Caersws), Peter Smith (Telford)
Ticket Prices are as follows:
Adults and Children – Seated - £8 Adults – Terrace - £6 Children – Terrace - £2. Family Tickets will also be available for each match, available only in the Stands for £20 for 2 Adults and 2 Children, a saving of £12.
