Congratulations to Megan McQuillan, Catherine Sheridan and Caragh Milliken who have been selected for the Northern Ireland U16 squad for the game v ROI on 11th December at the Cliff Complex, Seacourt in Larne. Northern Ireland U16 played a friendly against Linfield Ladies on Sunday 27th November 2011, all three GBU players took part in the match. The U16 team ran out 4-0 winners, with Catherine Sheridan captaining the victorious team.

Glentoran BU Under 17′s have won the inaugural Crusaders Strikers 7 a side tournament held at Seaview on Sunday 20th November.
In their 1st game they beat Newry 3-0 with  2 goals from Jessica Foy and Caragh Milliken. In their 2nd game GBU faced the hosts, Crusaders Strikers, they drew 1-1 in a close game. They faced Newry in their final game needing to win by 3 goals to clinch a tournament victory. The game ended 4-2 to Strikers leaving GBU as the winners.

Saturday 19th November at Mourneview Park will forever be etched in the history books of  Northern Ireland Women’s football. That’s when our Northern Ireland Senior Women’s team deservedly beat Norway 3-1 in a UEFA Women’s Euro group match. Norway are former World, European and Olympic Champions and are currently ranked 12th in the world and second in Europe.
There were six Glentoran BU players involved in that victory against Norway – Lyndsay Corrie, Demi Vance, Nadine Caldwell, Jess Stevens, Catherine “Shorty” O’Hagan and N.I. Captain Ashley Hutton, who scored the second goal just before the half time interval. These players along with their team mates put in a magnificent performance to take them to third place in their group with games in hand.

The squad then travelled to Hungary for their next game on Wednesday 23rd November minus 3 of the Glentoran contingent. The players again put in a magnificent performance, taking a 2-0 half time lead with Ashley Hutton again on the score sheet. An experienced Hungarian side, who are 30 places above N.I. in the world rankings, grabbed two late goals to deny us victory.

No doubt everyone involved in Women’s football is delighted with these results and performances against teams above us in World and Euro rankings.

2011 NIWFA Premier League Champions and Premier League Cup Winners Glentoran Belfast United have officially launched its first ever Junior Academy for Girls.

The Junior Girls Academy will take place at Ashfield Girls’ School on a Monday evening (6pm – 7pm) and will provide young girls aged 8 – 13 years old with a positive introduction to football and help them develop their skills, have fun and make new friends.

The Academy will cater for up to 40 children from across the Belfast area under the guidance of Head Coach John Grant and his team of volunteer coaches. It will provide informal coaching based around teaching participants the fundamentals of football in a fun and friendly environment.

John Grant, Head Coach of the Glentoran Belfast United Junior Girls Academy, said: “We are delighted to officially launch Glentoran Belfast United’s first ever Junior Girls Academy. We aim to introduce young girls to the fundamentals of football and help them develop their skills, whilst teaching them important qualities such as respect, discipline and teamwork.

“By teaching the girls the basics of football, we hope that they will develop and progress as young footballers and maybe one day we will have another Northern Ireland International coming the ranks at Glentoran Belfast United like our current first team captain Lyndsay Corry.”

Glentoran Belfast United has over 40 women and young girls participating in the NIWFA Premier and Reserve Leagues. They are arguably the most successful women’s football team in Northern Ireland having won the Premier League four times in the past six years, the IFA Women’s Cup five times out of the last six years and the Premier League Cup nine times in the last twelve years. The Reserve team is also the current Reserve League and Reserve League Cup Champions.

For further information on the Glentoran Belfast United Junior Girls Academy, please contact John Grant on Mob: 075 9061 5914 or Email: jgcoaching73@yahoo.co.uk.