Brentford U-16's WIN Milk Cup in NI (leading Youth Tournament)

[JimLevack]

Lost 3-2 to Everton, last years winners - a brilliant result which suggests to me that Brentford are building very firm foundations fir the future, from youth to Academy to first team. Hope springs eternal.....

[Ealing Bee]

The Bees eventually lost 3-2, which considering Everton are traditionally extremely strong* at Junior Level, still sounds very encouraging:
http://www.nimilkcup.org/index.php?o...198&Itemid=245


* - Current Champions, having won the Junior 2 out of the last 3 (maybe even 3 of the last 4?)

Edit: Just seen Jim's post, above.

[Humblebee]

I see David Moyes opened the tournament. Maybe he's there looking at players of ours that he can get on loan in a few years.

[red_and_white]

Last minute winner from Country Antrim. I don't think that's enough for them to overtake the young Brentford lads on GD though. I think i'm right in saying that unless Swindon beat Liverpool by 4 goals then Brentford go through to the Semi Final of the milk cup with Liverpool, Everton and Watford. A tremendous achievement really.

[red_and_white]

Liverpool beat Swindon 3 - 0. I believe that means the lads are through to the Milk Cup Semis. Can anyone confirm?

I know that the Jnr semi-final draw takes place at 6.

[red_and_white]

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/milk-cup-2012-draw

Link for the Milk Cup draw if anyone is interested. Takes place in the next couple of minutes...

[Trandy]

The live draw can be seen at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/milk-cup-2012-draw

[absenteebee]

Wow, life doesn't get much better than live streaming of the draw for a pre-season Under 16s tournament semi-final...

[Trandy]

The live draw can be seen at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/milk-cup-2012-draw

Brentford will play Liverpool in the Milk Cup semi final.

[bfc2dabone]

drawn against Liverpool in the semi

[absenteebee]

I've just wet my pants. If the Under 16s can get to a cup semi against liverpool (and possibly further) in these great kits, imagine what the big boys can do.

Sorry, the kit issue has become a joke to me now.

[Ealing Bee]

drawn against Liverpool in the semi

You can see the final table here, plus results to date:

http://www.nimilkcup.org/index.php?o...198&Itemid=245



Great to see BFC just edging into 4th place and a Semi-Final spot etc. What clinched it was coming back to score twice after going 3-0 down to Everton - a great lesson in "Never-Say-Die" for young players.

Mind you, Liverpool will be a toughie - played 3, won 3, Goals For 10, Goals Against 0...

[condorman]

Fantastic stuff by the young Bees. substantially above swindon too. eat that di canio

[alexlowe]

Could potentially be highlights of us tonight on BBC Sport, as they had Liverpool Swindon highlights from yesterday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18977521

[Bigbee]

You can see the final table here, plus results to date:

http://www.nimilkcup.org/index.php?o...198&Itemid=245



Great to see BFC just edging into 4th place and a Semi-Final spot etc. What clinched it was coming back to score twice after going 3-0 down to Everton - a great lesson in "Never-Say-Die" for young players.

Mind you, Liverpool will be a toughie - played 3, won 3, Goals For 10, Goals Against 0...

Not putting a downer on it but apart from the top four teams and Ipswich , arent all the rest a bit sh ite ?

[I'll Bee Damned]

Not putting a downer on it but apart from the top four teams and Ipswich , arent all the rest a bit sh ite ?

There are some foreign clubs (big in their own lands ie Mexico, Chile, Russia & Israel) who wouldn't send their kids unless they had a chance of doing well and were going to gain in terms of learning and experience. That, I would imagine, is why we are there and it can only postiive that we are doing well.

[Ealing Bee]

Not putting a downer on it but apart from the top four teams and Ipswich , arent all the rest a bit sh ite ?

It may be that the quality in the Junior Section isn't so high as normal this year, but I wouldn't make the mistake of misjudging Youth teams by the standard of their seniors. Watford, for example, are a mediocre Championship side, yet their Youth set-up is excellent. (Or look eg at Southampton or Crewe).

And it's even harder to assess teams from South America, the Far East, Africa and (esp) USA. For example, Man Utd traditionally are very strong, yet last year they were absolutely humped 5-1 in the Premier Final by Aspire Academy of Qatar. Hardly a footballing hotbed, yet they're pumping millions into their Academy to attract the best Coaches from Europe and the best kids from all over Africa, to facilities which are the best in the world:
http://www.aspire.qa/Aboutus/Pages/AboutUs.aspx

Another example is South Coast Strikers (USA), who beat Tottenham H 7-1 the other day. "Who they?"
http://www.southcoaststrikers.com/

Maybe, as you say, we shouldn't get too excited by BFC's results in the actual games this year. But with a handful of exceptions, the UK is miles behind many other countries when it comes to Youth development. By going to a (genuinely) world-class Tournament like the Milk Cup, Brentford aren't just learning from all the other participants etc, but along with the Academy and Development Squad etc, they're setting down a strong marker for where they want this club to be.

Long may Matthew's Millions continue to do their work!

[Alex Callow]

1-1 at HT against Liverpool. We took the lead.

[hobbsy]

FT 1-1 Penalties

[Hullbee]

Come on the lads

[hobbsy]

Won 5-4! Get in!

[62-63]

Brilliant!!!!

[readingbee]

Well we have some talent coming through the ranks !!

[Balders Bee]

Absolutely brilliant. Let's hope in years to come some of these lads become the Bees legends of tomorrow.

[oldbloke]

It may be that the quality in the Junior Section isn't so high as normal this year, but I wouldn't make the mistake of misjudging Youth teams by the standard of their seniors. Watford, for example, are a mediocre Championship side, yet their Youth set-up is excellent. (Or look eg at Southampton or Crewe).

And it's even harder to assess teams from South America, the Far East, Africa and (esp) USA. For example, Man Utd traditionally are very strong, yet last year they were absolutely humped 5-1 in the Premier Final by Aspire Academy of Qatar. Hardly a footballing hotbed, yet they're pumping millions into their Academy to attract the best Coaches from Europe and the best kids from all over Africa, to facilities which are the best in the world:
http://www.aspire.qa/Aboutus/Pages/AboutUs.aspx

Another example is South Coast Strikers (USA), who beat Tottenham H 7-1 the other day. "Who they?"
http://www.southcoaststrikers.com/

Maybe, as you say, we shouldn't get too excited by BFC's results in the actual games this year. But with a handful of exceptions, the UK is miles behind many other countries when it comes to Youth development. By going to a (genuinely) world-class Tournament like the Milk Cup, Brentford aren't just learning from all the other participants etc, but along with the Academy and Development Squad etc, they're setting down a strong marker for where they want this club to be.

Long may Matthew's Millions continue to do their work!

Totally agree. This is just one more reason why it is an exciting time to be a Bee.