England U17s ready to host FA International Tournament

England U17s will be hosted by Chesterfield, Kidderminster Harriers and Burton Albion later this month when The FA U17 International Tournament kicks-off the new campaign.

The Young Lions welcome Italy, Portugal and Czech Republic for the competition, which pits each nation against the other in a total of six games with the ultimate table-toppers taking home the trophy.

John Peacock’s side will be in action for the first time on Wednesday 27 August when Czech Republic are the opposition at Aggborough Stadium in Kidderminster.

Two days later, England host Portugal at the Proact Stadium in Chesterfield on Friday 29 August before the games are wrapped up on Sunday 31 August when the Young Lions face Italy at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton.

The sides will be based at St. George’s Park during the week, with non-England fixtures also being held at Alfreton Town and Tamworth FC.

An annual tournament held by The FA, the matches will be the first under U17s head coach Peacock for the new campaign and act as preparation for the First Qualifying Round of the Euro championships which take place in Cyprus in October.

Peacock led England U17s to glory in last season’s competition, beating the Netherlands in May’s final in Malta with many of those players having featured in last summer's competition - when Portugual were the winners.

“It’s always a good opportunity to test ourselves against some of the top nations at this age group level and we’re looking forward to it as always,” said Peacock.