Editing SuperCupNI (section)

== History ==
[[Image:Dale Farm Milk Cup.png|thumb|Logo used when the tournament was known as the Dale Farm Milk Cup]]
The Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament began in 1983 with sixteen teams participating at an Under 16 (Premier) level. [[Motherwell F.C. Under-20s and Academy|Motherwell]] from [[Scotland]] were the first winners. It was founded by Jim Weir, Victor Leonard, George Logan and [[Bertie Peacock]], one of the most famous football players from the region.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

The competition was extended in 1985 when an extra age group, the Under 14 (Junior) section was introduced and again the first champions were from Scotland, as [[Rangers F.C. B Team and Academy|Rangers]] won the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament at that age level. The competition at both levels has grown in size and stature over the years, with teams increasingly travelling from all continents to compete. The Under 19 (Elite) section was introduced in 1995 with the [[Welsh national football team|Welsh]] finishing the tournament as winners. Traditionally, the finals are played at the [[Coleraine Showgrounds]] on the Friday evening.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}
[[File:Taça Milk Cup 2007.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Milk Cup Sub-16 2007.]]
Internationally capped footballers have taken part in the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament, such as [[Charlie Davies]], [[Jonathan Spector]], [[Paul Scholes]], and [[Wayne Rooney]] have all competed at some level.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} In the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]] there were 30 Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament veterans playing.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

To celebrate the competition's [[silver jubilee]], a friendly match took place between [[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]] and four-time junior section winners [[Everton F.C. Reserves and Academy|Everton]] at the Coleraine Showgrounds on 14 July 2007. Everton won the tie 2–0.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

One of the key parts to the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament is the inclusion of six representative teams from each county of Northern Ireland – Antrim, Armagh, Londonderry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. This system allows young players from across the province to compete against some of the best in the world at their age group.

In October 2013, the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament organising committee and lead sponsors [[Dairy Council]] released a joint statement stating that the long-term sponsors Dairy Council would be withdrawing sponsorship.<ref>{{cite web|title=Milk Cup Chairman: Dairy Council backing was 'remarkable'|url=http://www.nimilkcup.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=382%3Amilk-cup-chairman-dairy-council-backing-was-remarkable&Itemid=98|publisher=NI Milk Cup|access-date=21 October 2013|date=21 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022023527/http://www.nimilkcup.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=382%3Amilk-cup-chairman-dairy-council-backing-was-remarkable&Itemid=98|archive-date=22 October 2013|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

In February 2014, the organisers announced that competition would be sponsored by [[Belfast]]-based company Dale Farm and that the competition would be known as the Dale Farm Milk Cup for sponsorship reasons.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dale Farm new sponsor for Milk Cup|url=http://www.colerainetimes.co.uk/news/local-news/dale-farm-new-sponsor-for-milk-cup-1-5906404|publisher=Johnston Publishing|work=Coleraine Times|access-date=28 February 2014|date=28 February 2014}}</ref> From 2016 it has been known as the Super Cup NI.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34588193|title=Milk Cup football tournament in name change to Super Cup NI|date=20 October 2015|publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref>