Linfield Ladies Youth Academy made history recently when they competed at a major tournament in Spain.
The young Blues became the first club from Northern Ireland to play in the prestigious Barcelona Girls Cup at Futbol Salou, held over the weekend of June 8-9.
Linfield entered teams in the Under 11s, U12s and U12 Swifts ans took on some of the top sides and players in Europe.
The Under 11s qualified from their group in second place, finishing runners-up to a La Liga Select team.
In the quarter-final they faced a professional Polish Academy (Diamonds Academy) and unfortunately lost 3-2.
They then faced English North West champions Winstanley Warriors in a third place playoff and secured an impressive 4-0 victory.
Sophie McKnight also picked up the Under 11 Overall Player of the Tournament.
Meanwhile, the Under 12 Swifts had the unenviable task of being drawn in FC Barcelona's group and performed well throughout the group stage, finishing eighth overall with a narrow defeat to FFA77 from France.
The Under 12s won their group thanks to a sensational last-minute goal from Sophie Gargan against group leaders EF Manu Lanzarote.
That saw the girls progress through a tough group undefeated and set up a final between the two unbeaten teams in the tournament - Linfield and FC Barcelona.
Barcelona proved their class in the final, although Eva Myles did score the only goal the Spanish giants conceded in the entire tournament, with the Linfield girls finishing second overall.
"It was a wonderful experience for everyone involved," said U12 coach Peter Gilmore.
"The girls enjoyed taking on some top teams and they all did the club proud. The three teams were brilliant throughout the tournament in the way they conducted themselves on and off the pitch.
"We are hoping to return next year, and hopefully we can build on this year's wonderful performances."
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