Club History
Background on Cooktown Youth FC and how it all beganThe foundation for Cookstown Youth Football Club formally Cookstown Boys Football Club was laid in 1991 when local men, Nigel Talbot and Johnny McAllister decided to make a contribution to the local community by forming a youth football club.
Their aim was to ensure that the club would be representative of the town and give young people from different religious and social backgrounds a purpose in coming together. They believed that through the formation of this club, football would be the medium that would help to make this happen.
Over twenty-five years many hundreds of children have passed though the club and their experience has been made possible by the dedication of numerous volunteer coaches and administrators, the backing of many sponsors within the community over the years, the support of our local council and the backing of parents and other local stakeholders.
In its first season, 1991/92, the club catered for 30 players aged between 13 and 16 and it had two teams. In 1999/2000 there were four teams catering for 70 players in four age groups ranging from 11 to 16. In the intervening years the club has developed into one of the biggest and well organised youth football clubs in the country. In 2017, CYFC now provides the opportunity for approximately 400 boys and girls to take part in organised competitive and non-competitive football every week.
The club has 13 teams competing in league football covering all the age groups from under 10 to senior level and also runs the highly successful Development Centre which has a registration of over 200 children aged between 5 and 14.
In 1991, the club had 2 coaches, by 2011, our 20th anniversary, that number had risen to 35 and today CYFC has over 50 registered coaches. All of these volunteer coaches must attain a recognised technical coaching qualification, go through child protection training and an access NI enhanced check carried out.
The club has always encouraged its teams to travel outside the country to participate in tournaments in order to help players with their football education, personal development and to promoting equality and diversity. For many players, the end of season tours is a major highlight of the year and to date teams representing CYFC have played in many different countries including England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Holland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Canada and the USA.
Over the years, the club has also been recognised for its high standards off the pitch with awards such as, the Junior Gold Club Award from the Sports Council, the Institute of Marketing Award for Voluntary Organisations and CYFC are one of very few sporting clubs to have attained the prestigious ISO9001 accreditation. Other significant developments over the last twenty-five years include the forging of links with English clubs Preston North End and Sheffield Wednesday and this has had considerable benefits in the areas of both coach and player development.
Fittingly, in 2015 has also seen the introduction of a CYFC Senior team and now for the first time in our history, it is possible for a child to join this club at five years old and spend their footballing life at CYFC. The first quarter of a century of CYFC has seen many changes but one thing has not changed and that is the club’s original aim to provide the opportunity for children from all religions and cultures in the community to be able to play football and, more importantly, to enjoy the experience.
Over twenty-five years many hundreds of children have passed though the club and their experience has been made possible by the dedication of numerous volunteer coaches and administrators, the backing of many sponsors within the community over the years, the support of our local council and the backing of parents and other local stakeholders.
