ACADEMY NEWS

Driscoll On Under-19s ‘Exciting’ India Opportunity

Everton Under-18s assistant coach Kieran Driscoll believes the young Blues’ trip to India could provide key experiences in their development towards the professional game.

Everton have sent an Under-19s squad to compete at the Premier League’s Next Generation Cup. The tournament will take place at the Reliance Corporate Park in Mumbai, India, between Wednesday 17 May to Friday 26 May.

The Under-18s, who make up the majority of the travelling squad, head on the tour after remaining unbeaten in their past five outings, securing an impressive fourth-place finish in the Under-18s Premier League North.

Driscoll will be leading the team on the trip and ahead of making the journey, he discussed the competition, while highlighting the potential benefit for Everton’s young talent.

“It’s a great opportunity for the boys,” he told Everton Live, the Club's matchday show. “It’s come a little bit out of the blue at the end of the season. It’s a Premier League event over in India. It’ll be us with Wolves, West Ham, as well as four Indian Super League teams. They’ll be a little bit older as Under-21 sides. There will also be a team called Stellenbosch from South Africa.


“It's a trip we’re all excited for. We’re there for 12 days so there will be a lot of things to adapt to and to acclimatise to, but I think if the boys want to move into the professional game, they’ll need to become used to that sort of thing, like longer journeys into different and diverse cultures. This will, no doubt, put them in a good position moving forwards in their careers.”

The Toffees have been drawn in group B of the competition and will take on Wolves in their opening fixture on Wednesday (3.30pm kick-off BST), before facing Sudeva Delhi FC on Saturday (11.30am BST). Everton will then conclude their group next Tuesday when they face RF Young Champs (3.30pm BST).


Driscoll believes the trip to Mumbai could provide a platform for the young squad to develop as players, but also as people, as they’ll have to immerse themselves in an unfamiliar culture.

“It gives the boys a really good opportunity to visit a different culture and country,” Driscoll noted. “I don’t think any of our players and staff who are going have been to India before, and they potentially wouldn’t go in the future if it wasn’t for an opportunity like this.

“As an Academy, we want to give the boys as many opportunities and experiences to develop them as people – just as much as players.”

Elsewhere in the tournament, Bengaluru FC, West Ham United, ATK Mohun Bogan are in group A, along with current Next Gen champions from South Africa, Stellenbosch FC.

Click this link for information about how you can follow the tournament and see the full Everton Under-19s squad list.