We are delighted to announce that Harry Cavan Youth Cup winner James Simpson has signed his first-ever professional contract at Inver Park.
The 17-year-old defender has enjoyed a fantastic start to his Inver Reds career since joining the club’s Scholarship Programme in July last year.
Alongside playing a key role in winning the Harry Cavan Youth Cup for only the second time in the club’s history and featuring regularly for both our U18 and U20 NIFL sides, Simpson has also made his first team debut for Tiernan Lynch’s side when he came off the bench in the 5-0 Irish Cup victory over Glenavon on the 3rd February.
On the international stage, James was recently called up to the Northern Ireland U17 squad back in March for their UEFA Euro 2024 Elite Round qualifiers where he started against England and made an appearance in the victory over Hungary.
Upon signing his professional contract, James said:
“It’s great. It comes after a lot of hard work and personally, I put a lot of effort into my football so it’s great to see that the club believe in me.
“I’ve enjoyed a good first year on the Scholarship Programme with the highlight being winning the Harry Cavan Youth Cup and obviously making my first-team debut was a really proud moment for me and my family.
“Ultimately, I’m a Larne fan. Being from the town, I would always go and watch the first team’s games and to hopefully be a part of that soon, it’s a really proud moment for me.
“The hard work starts now, and I want to continue training with the first team and keep doing well which will hopefully lead to more opportunities to get experience in senior football.”
