Young at art

The youngest members of the Cliftonville Academy played their first ever fixture as a team this weekend.

Participating in the fonaCAB Development League at Solitude, the Wee Reds – all of whom were born in 2014 – sampled their introductory taste of the series which sees a host of boys and girls across various age-groups contest games consisting of three 12-minute periods in a fun and simplified environment.

As the season progresses, hundreds of players representing scores of teams from near and far will play their part in our expansive initiative, the organisers of which were recently delighted to oversee the introduction of the inaugural Girls section, where youngsters from St James Swifts Ladies, Carnmoney Ladies, Linfield Ladies, Crusaders Strikers, Larne Ladies, St Malachy’s and Cumann Spoirt An Phobail were all involved.

Don’t forget our player development programme continues throughout the week at the Cliftonville Skill School, with sessions – which are open to boys and girls of mixed abilities aged 4-9 – taking place between 4.45-5.45pm every Monday and Wednesday at a cost of just £3.