The inaugural Southampton Cup is under way, after the competition's opening ceremony was held at St Mary’s today.
More than 40 boys’ and girls’ teams from around the world are participating in the eight-day international youth tournament, which runs throughout the coming week.
The teams, which include those from top professional academies such as Porto, Chelsea and Deportivo La Coruña – as well as Saints – took part in a parade ahead of this afternoon’s pre-season friendly with Sevilla.
Players and coaches then watched the match, ahead of the first round of their games beginning tomorrow across a wide range of locations, including Staplewood Campus, Wide Lane Sports Ground, Test Park, Salisbury FC, Blackfield and Langley FC and Brockenhurst FC.
Alongside the main competition, which features teams ranging from under-12s to under-16s, there is also the Southampton Cup Community Tournament running during the week, featuring under-7 to under-12 sides from around the country.
Southampton Football Club’s Global Development Manager Matt Sanger said: "We're very excited to welcome teams from countries such as USA, Canada and Kenya to the Southampton Cup, alongside clubs from countries with a strong history of youth player development such as Croatia, Spain and Portugal.
"A great amount of work has gone into the preparation for the tournament and now we're looking forward to delivering a great footballing experience for everyone taking part."
For full information on the Southampton Cup and the Community Tournament, please click here.
A full round-up from each day will appear on southamptonfc.com, with additional content appearing in our dedicated Southampton Cup pages throughout the tournament.
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