The North Dublin Schoolboys/girls League officially announced their partnership with League of Ireland Club Sporting Fingal on Thursday, June 11 2009 at their Oscar Traynor Road Development Centre Facility.

The President of the FAI, David Blood, along with the Chief Executive, John Delaney, were in attendance as well as John O’Brien, Secretary of Sporting Fingal, and Fingal’s Director of Football, Liam Buckley.

From the NDSL were Honorary Secretary Tony Gains, Honorary Treasurer Frank Molloy and Academy Director Bob Smith.

Agreement has been reached following several months of discussion between both parties to formalise the football alliance with the prime aim of developing Youth football in the county of Fingal.

The FAI have given their full backing to the initiative which will assist in facilitating a pathway for aspiring young footballers to pursue their professional football career with Sporting Fingal in the League of Ireland club after developing through the NDSL.

The NDSL, which caters for over 10,000 players from 7-18 years of age on weekly basis, has built it’s reputation on the principle of coaching since it’s inception in 1973, and were the first league in Ireland to introduce the small-sided format for players under the age of 11.

Speaking at the launch, Tony Gains of the NDSL, said: “We have worked, and will continue to work, with Sporting Fingal in strengthening our partnership to the betterment of both associations. We in the NDSL see this alliance as a natural fit in terms of each party’s mutual ambition of instilling a football community ethos within the county of Fingal.

“Tangible elements of the relationship are already in place by the scheduling of the joint NDSL/Sporting Fingal Soccer Camps next month and the coaching of our representative teams by Liam Buckley and his staff at Sporting Fingal.”

John O’Brien, Secretary of Sporting Fingal, spoke of his delight at the link-up: “We are thrilled to formalise this agreement and have the NDSL as our official Youth football partner.

“Sporting Fingal was established in 2007 with a fundamental aim of forging links with the community. We consciously avoided setting up a schoolboy section, as not to compete with local nursery clubs for young players, and instead concentrated on developing a broader collaboration with the NDSL.”

Sporting Fingal Director of Football and first-team manager Liam Buckley also hailed the accord.

He said: “With the impressive work undertaken by Bob Smith in the NDSL Academy, we are hugely encouraged by the association’s structure,” he said. “There is a definite link and a pathway in place for players who possess the requisite talent to graduate from the NDSL into our Under-20, ‘A’ Championship and, hopefully, first-team.”

John Delaney, CEO of from the FAI, endorsed the new agreement by stating: “Sporting Fingal, as a club, have made great strides since their entry into the League of Ireland 15 months ago and we are delighted with news of this link-up with the NDSL.”