It was a thrilling final day of the Craig Brown Memorial Trophy at Cormark Park on Sunday, as some of Europe’s finest academies went toe to toe to lift the trophy, concluding another year of success for the competition. 

After an action packed day one filled with skill, talent and good spirits, Aberdeen and Rangers sat top of their respective groups with plenty still to play for to determine the third winner of the event. Once again, the tournament has been a fitting tribute to our former Manager, Director and Ambassador Craig Brown, with his contributions to youth development and football honoured through all of this year’s participants. 

Day two kicked off with the final group stage matches to determine who would face off in our Semi-final and placement matches. The closing group stage games included plenty of exciting ties, with Lillestrom v Dundee, Newcastle v PAOK, Rangers v Bohemians, Celtic v Aberdeen, Southampton v Westdyke and Preston North End v Motherwell all featuring during the morning’s action. 

In Group A, Rangers topped the pile with a 0-0 draw against Bohemians, seeing them through on 8 points. Southampton also progressed to the semi final stage after a goalless affair with local boys Westdyke. 

Moving onto Group B, Greek side PAOK finished first after a narrow win against Newcastle. Celtic booked their place in the semi finals after a 4-0 win against Aberdeen. 

With the young Dons finishing third and missing out on the Semi-final stage by just a single point, they would now face Lillestrøm SK in our fifth place playoff, with the Norwegian’s stalemate against Dundee enough for them to finish third. 

Elsewhere, Westdyke would clash with Preston North End for seventh place, Bohemians would contest for ninth against Newcastle and Scottish duo Dundee and Motherwell would play in our eleventh place playoff. 

In the first semi final, it was Celtic who would triumph over city rivals Rangers 1-0, courtesy of a penalty from Harris. Joining Celtic in the final were PAOK who, after a goalless 25 minutes, edged out Southampton on penalties.

In the first of five play-off matches, Dundee secured a 1-0 win against Motherwell, with Robertson’s strike proving enough to earn a victory, confirming Dundee’s eleventh place finish. Finishing in ninth place were Irish outfit Bohemians who registered a 1-0 victory against Newcastle. In seventh place were local community club Westdyke who prevailed against Preston on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

To decide fifth place, Aberdeen took on Lillestrøm SK. After a tightly contested affair on the Eoin Jess pitch, neither team could find the crucial breakthrough, with penalties needed to conclude the game. The Dons held their nerve to win the shootout, securing fifth position and ending their Craig Brown Tournament campaign on a high. Rangers concluded the playoff round with a 5-1 win against Southampton. 

It was now time for the final where last year’s winners Celtic took on tournament newcomers PAOK. The game was a closely fought contest throughout with little to separate the two sides however, in the closing moments of the match, PAOK were dramatically awarded a penalty. Douralis stepped up for PAOK, but his penalty was well saved by Celtic goalkeeper King. With that, the match ended goalless and penalties were required to decide our tournament winners. 

In the shootout, PAOK number one Vatsos produced the heroics for his side, saving two Celtic penalties before the PAOK grabbed the win, crowning them winners of The Craig Brown Memorial Trophy. 

An eventful tournament was rounded off with our closing ceremony, where the trophy and awards were presented by John Brown, Craig’s son. Southampton shot-stopper Hadley Clark took home Goalkeeper of the Tournament, with Rangers duo Coben Ferguson and Charlie Miller winning Player of the Tournament and Top Goalscorer respectively. 

We’d like to thank all 12 teams for making the journey to Cormack Park and participating in the tournament. Each side was a testament to each one of their clubs and we hope they enjoyed what was a fantastic tournament.

We’d also like to say a massive thank you to this year’s tournament sponsors RAM Tubulars, TEXO, Fowler McKenzie and Central Coaches with their support making a great event possible.