Unsworth looking forward to new U21 tournament

Lyndon Lloyd , 5 November, 3comments | Jump to most recent

David Unsworth has been looking ahead to Everton U21s' involvement in the Premier League International Cup when they play their first match against Celtic on 25 November.

The tournament, which kicked off last month when West Ham took on Athletic Bilbao, is a four-group, 16-team affair featuring top Under-21 and elite development teams from England and other European leagues.

Everton were drawn into Group D for the first stage of and will play Celtic, Sunderland and Villarreal.

“It's very exciting to be involved in this prestigious tournament," Unsworth said. "We're really looking forward to pitting our wits against some of the best sides here and overseas.

"We're obviously well aware of Sunderland. Celtic will be a different proposition. They're the big club in Scotland at the moment and have some terrific talent. It'll be a fixture with added spice which is something new for the lads.

“And then there's the glamour game against Villareal. They'll be formidable opponents. It's a dream tie in many ways.

“We're really looking forward to it. The players are all buzzing and we want to go as far as we can. We aim to win every competition we enter so it'll be a nice addition to the normal programme.”

The rest of the schedule for the group phase, which runs until the end of January, is yet to be decided.

Quotes sourced from evertonfc.com

Reader Comments (3)

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Ciaran Duff
1 Posted 06/11/2014 at 10:05:09

Never heard of this tournament but it sounds like a good idea. Certainly give the younger players experience against different types of teams and styles.

Dave Abrahams
2 Posted 06/11/2014 at 11:16:21

It will give the U21s some more much needed games this season. They have hardly played this year.

Michael Kenrick
3 Posted 06/11/2014 at 15:26:29

This is a big step up, when you consider that, for many years, the only other competition they played at that level was the Liverpool Senior Cup. A venerable trophy indeed... but only local teams and talent, obviously. Still, here's something to brag about Â— Everton have won it more times (45) than anyone else!

Although I recall now that there was a new cup competition we played in briefly last season, the FA Under-21 Premier League Cup, where we got to the Round of 16 before falling to the mighty Wolves...

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