Congratulation to Portadown defender Reece Jordan (18) who has been named in the Northern Ireland U19 squad for the upcoming elite round of the UEFA U19 Euro 2023 qualifiers where Gerard Lyttle’s squad will face France, Romania and Norway in Group 1 of the elite round, with the four-team mini tournament being staged in France.

Northern Ireland’s Under-19s will get their elite round qualification campaign under way against hosts France at Stade de la Source in Orleans on Wednesday 22 March (5pm start UK time) while matchday two in Group 1 will see them take on the Romanians at Stade Jacques Mazzuca in Saran on Saturday 25 March (2pm start UK time) with their final group game being against Norway at the same venue in Saran on Tuesday 28 March. The game in north-central France is scheduled to kick off at 2pm (UK time).

Gerard Lyttle’s U19 side booked their place in the U19 Euro 2023 elite qualifying round after finishing second in Group 13 of the initial qualifying round back in September. In their group Northern Ireland drew 2-2 with table toppers Slovenia in game one and then 0-0 with mini tournament hosts Netherlands before registering a 2-0 win over Moldova. They pipped the Dutch to the runners-up spot in the group on goals scored.

In the U19 elite round only the winners of the seven groups will qualify to join hosts Malta at the UEFA U19 Euro finals in July.

Reece, who signed a 3 year professional contract with Portadown in August 2021, made his senior league debut for the club against Dungannon Swifts in May 2021 as a substitute before going on to make his full starting debut against Ballymena United the following Saturday. He was part of the Northern Ireland Under-18 squad who played Manchester United’s Under-18s in the 2022 SuperCupNI tournament and was also called up to Northern Ireland Under-19 squad for The Football Federations Cup in Albir, Spain along with being part of the Under-19 panel that travelled to Malta for friendlies in June 2022.

A thoroughly deserved called up for the Moy native and we wish him every success during his time with the Northern Ireland squad.

Also in the squad are Ex Ports Josh Roney, Sam Glenfield and Darren Robinson.