A brief history of The FA International U17 Tournament.

The FA International U17 Tournament
Wednesday 24 August – Sunday 28 August 2011
England, Italy, Czech Republic, Portugal
Bishop’s Stortford FC, Cambridge United FC, Histon FC, Northampton Town FC
Click here for all of England's fixtures

Tickets are priced £3 for adults and £1 for concessions
Full ticket details, group booking forms and Charter Standard booking forms below

England v Italy
7pm, Wednesday 24 August 2011
The Abbey Stadium, Cambridge United FC
Ticket office - 01223 566500 Option 1
Click here for Group Booking Form
Click here for Charter Standard Booking Form

England v Czech Republic
7pm, Friday 26 August 2011
Woodside Park, Bishop's Stortford FC
Ticket sales number - 01279 306456 Option 4
Website for further ticketing information www.bsfc.co.uk
Click here for Group Booking Form
Click here for Charter Standard Booking Form

England v Portugal
2pm, Sunday 28 August 2011
The Sixfields Stadium, Northampton Town FC
Ticket sales number - 01604 683777
Click here for Group Booking Form
Click here for Charter Standard Booking Form

In just over a week's time, England will begin their defence of The FA International U17 Tournament.

Last season, John Peacock's young side drew 2-2 with Turkey, before beating Australia and Portugal to lift the trophy. But what exactly is The FA International U17 Tournament?

This early-season friendly competition has now become an established part of the international calendar and is traditionally used as preparation for England's European Championship First Qualifying Round fixtures which usually take place in the early autumn.

The series began in 1999 when an England team that included Jermaine Pennant and Michael Chopra won a competition that also featured Argentina and France. England’s 2-1 victory against the Argentines, who had a young Carlos Tevez in attack, was watched by more than 14,000 at the old Wembley.

England have enjoyed mixed fortunes in the last seven competitions. In 2004 they had a great tournament at Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium, emerging as clear winners after beating Italy, Russia and Portugal. The Young Lions began with a 2-1 win against Italy. They saw Myles Weston and Joe Garner weigh in with late strikes to secure the points. Two days later the Russians were swept aside as West Ham’s Hogan Ephraim claimed four goals in a 5-1 triumph. We went into the crunch game with Portugal knowing that a win would see us top the table. A good crowd saw goals from Garner, Weston and Lewis McGugan contribute to a 3-1 victory.

West Country clubs hosted the 2005 matches and we began on a high, beating the Portuguese 3-1 with the help of a Daniel Sturridge brace. Then, USA and Italy edged England 1-0 and 2-1 to prevent us retaining the trophy.

However, we were winners again in 2006. Chelsea midfielder Michael Woods scored twice for a 2-0 lead in the opener against Turkey at Brentford before the visitors fought back to level. Then England went goal crazy against USA at Aldershot, with Woods, Henri Lansbury, Victor Moses, Nani Ofori-Twumasi and Rhys Murphy (2) scoring in a 6-0 win. Nearly 4,000 fans at Swindon’s County Ground saw England beat the Portuguese 4-0 to clinch the trophy. Leicester City’s Ashley Chambers scored twice and Steven Clancy and Victor Moses, then of Aston Villa and Crystal Palace respectively, got the other goals.

England remained unbeaten in 2007 after starting with a 6-1 crushing of Northern Ireland at Brentford. A strong Turkish outfit held us to a 1-1 draw at Wycombe before Andros Townsend, Ryan Donaldson and Cameron Stewart scored in a 3-0 win over Italy at Luton.

In 2008, England lost the opening game to Portugal 2-1 at Rushden but wins against Israel (1-0 at Peterborough) and Italy (2-0 at Northampton) took us to second spot behind the Portuguese, and it was a similar outcome two years ago.

In a tight opening encounter between England and Italy at The Pirelli Stadium in Burton an own goal from the Italian goalkeeper, Nicola Leali, cancelled out Simone Magnaghi’s earlier strike and the game ended 1-1. Two days later at Sixfields Stadium, Turkey were England’s opposition and a five-goal thriller ensued with Abdullah Ercan’s young charges sneaking the victory. West Brom’s Saido Berahino, who flew to Colombia to compete in this summer’s FIFA U20 World Cup, got both England goals. The final game saw England put in by far their best performance of the week as they defeated eventual Tournament winners Portugal 1-0 at Meadow Lane. Arsenal’s Chuks Aneke struck in the second half to put a winning gloss on a dominant England performance.

Last season the hosts went one better and won the tournament for the first time since 2006. Captained by Nathaniel Chalobah, who, only three months earlier had held England lift the European U17 Championship in Liechtenstein, they came from 2-0 down against Turkey in the opening game to draw 2-2. Everton forward Hallam Hope started the comeback with a converted penalty on the stroke of half-time and Liverpool defender Matty Regan headed the equaliser shortly after the restart. England took this momentum into their next match, against Australia, and a goal apiece for Matthias Fanimo, Courtney Meppen Walters, Raheem Sterling and Nick Powell helped guide the youngsters to a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Peacock’s charges clinched the title two days later by beating Portugal, the holders, 3-1 at Glanford Park, home to Scunthorpe United. Hope helped himself to a double and Powell added a third just before the break. Joao Cancelo netted a consolation goal for the visitors on 50 minutes, but England held on well to earn their moment of glory.

Previous winners of The FA International U17 Tournament

2010 England
2009 Portugal
2008 Portugal
2007 Turkey
2006 England
2005 Italy
2004 England
2003 Portugal
2002 England
2001 Brazil
2000 Brazil
1999 England

England squad in full

Goalkeepers
Jack Rose (West Bromwich Albion), George Willis (Sheffield United)

Defenders
Leo Chambers (West Ham United), Fankaty Dabo (Chelsea), Shay Facey (Manchester City), Jordan Houghton (Chelsea), Ryan Inniss (Crystal Palace), Luke Shaw (Southampton)

Midfielders
Jordan Graham (Aston Villa), Jack Jebb (Arsenal), Diego Poyet (Charlton Athletic), Joe Rothwell (Manchester United), Kieran Wallace (Nottingham Forest)

Forwards
Chuba Akpom (Arsenal), Devante Cole (Manchester City), Austin Lipman (Arsenal), Ben Pearson (Manchester United), Callum Robinson (Aston Villa)