Head coach Danielle McDowell Tuffey has named a 20-player Northern Ireland Women’s Under-17 squad for the opening round of UEFA Women’s Under-17 European Championship qualifiers in Norway next month.
McDowell Tuffey will be assisted by former Northern Ireland international Julie Nelson for the three matches, with Northern Ireland set to face hosts Norway, Austria and Italy.
Northern Ireland will begin their League A campaign against Norway at Sarpsborg Stadium on Wednesday 7 October before taking on Austria at the same venue three days later.
They will round off the qualifying campaign against Italy on Tuesday 13 October, with all three games kicking off at 3pm local time.
Five members of the squad return to the WU17 age group having gained valuable experience as part of the Northern Ireland squad which competed at the UEFA Women’s Under-17 European Championship finals in Belfast earlier this year.
McDowell Tuffey said: “We are really looking forward to testing ourselves against top European teams in League A.
“We know all three games will be really tough tasks for us, but we are excited to see how we compare.
“We have five players returning to this year’s U17 cohort who gained valuable experience competing at the U17 Euro finals in Belfast in May.
“Last year’s U17 squad and staff proved that we can compete with anyone on our day, having beaten Germany 1-0. We will try to take some confidence and inspiration from the performances produced by last year’s squad.”
Northern Ireland WU17 squad
Goalkeepers
Ifeoma Agoha (Derry City Women)
Saskia McLaughlin (Linfield Women)
Defenders
Grace Steele (Glentoran Women)
Anayah Lee (Cliftonville Women)
Sasha Cowan (Bolton Wanderers)
Sara Devany (Glentoran FC)
Ellie-Mae Turner (Linfield Women)
Connie Harper (Glentoran Women)
Midfielders
Abigail Fitzsimmons (Glentoran Women)
Anna Smyth (Lisburn Rangers)
Zion Donnan (Crusaders FC)
Grace Guest (Crusaders Strikers)
Daisy-Lee Anderson (Glentoran Women)
Leah Hepburn (Loughgall FC)
Siena Moore (Glentoran Women)
Forwards
Charley McMullan (Cliftonville Women)
Grace Murray (Lisburn Rangers)
Annarose Robinson (Cliftonville Women)
Ella Kitson (Linfield Women)
Abigail Curley (Cliftonville Women)
Fixtures
Wednesday 7 October
Norway v Northern Ireland
Sarpsborg Stadium, 3pm local time
Saturday 10 October
Austria v Northern Ireland
Sarpsborg Stadium, 3pm local time
Tuesday 13 October
Northern Ireland v Italy
Sarpsborg Stadium, 3pm local time
