Many young men of 20 say goodbye

Don Givens has opted to step up his preparations for the next European under-21 championship qualifying campaign by drafting in a long list of new names for next month's game against Cyprus.

Some 11 of the 18-man squad are uncapped at this level. A good number, including Celtic's Jim Goodwin and Liam Miller as well as Ben Burgess of Blackburn, are already veterans of other underage Irish teams.

Brian Shelley is rewarded for a string of strong early-season performances for Bohemians with a place in the squad, while Longford's Seβn Prunty is one of four players on standby.

Statoil, who sponsor the Irish Junior Cup, are holding an auction for a jersey signed by the Republic of Ireland team, a ball also signed by many of the Republic's players and two tickets for the forthcoming World Cup qualifier against Cyprus.

Bids of over £500 can be made by sending an e-mail to hobbsm@statoil.com or by writing to Statoil Junior Cup Auction, Statoil Ireland Ltd, 6 George's Docks, IFSC, Dublin 1.

The proceeds raised will be donated to a fund established to help former St Patrick's Athletic player Christy McElligott, who was recently playing for Ballymun United, but was badly injured in a car accident last month.

Ireland Under-21 Squad: J Murphy (Tranmere Rovers), G Stack (Arsenal), S Byrne (West Ham), B Shelley (Bohemians), J O'Shea (Man United), J Goodwin (Celtic), B O'Callaghan (Barnsley), J Thompson (Notts Forest), L Miller (Celtic), G Barrett (Arsenal), D Delaney (Leicester City), Br McGill (Sunderland), B Burgess (Blackburn Rovers), A Reid (Notts Forest), M Keane (Preston NE), T Butler (Sunderland), K Foy (Notts Forest), M Doyle (Celtic). Stand-by: C Byrne (Sunderland), N Hudson (Notts Forest), S Prunty (Longford Town), J Daly (Stockport County).

The outcome of yesterday's appeal against the decision by the National League not to dock St Patrick's Athletic points for fielding an ineligible player in the first three games of the season will be announced this morning by the FAI.