Thousands of fans packed the streets of a wet Coleraine this evening as the 2014 Dale Farm Milk Cup was officially opened.

Most of the 56 competing sides, covering the globe from New Zealand and Australia to China, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, America, Zambia and the home nations, took part in the traditional opening parade ahead of the week long football festival.

The day had started much earlier for the 36 Brentford players and 13 staff as they made the short hop over the Irish Sea to Belfast.

Taking two sides this year meant that The Bees had outgrown the Coleraine hotel which had been their base for the previous campaigns.

New accommodation was found at a Youth Hostel in the village of Bushmills, famous for its Whiskey making, a few miles outside Coleraine.

With a travelling party of approaching 50 it is fair to say that within moments of arrival the Hostel had been fully taken over by The Bees.

The large Conference Room was converted into a kit store, analysis suite, physio room and meeting room rolled into one.

Once everyone had been settled into their surroundings it was already time for dinner.

One of the features of the hotel in Coleraine was the fantastic food that was served up for every meal and it looks like that will be no different here.

After dinner the party headed out to Coleraine for the annual parade and opening ceremony while Sean O'Connor, Danny Buck and Ose Aibangee attended the pre-match dinner for coaching staff.

They say in life there are only two certainties: death and taxes.

However a third can probably be added to that list: it will rain at the Milk Cup parade.

A dry afternoon gave way to a damp evening and be the time the parade started at 7pm the leaden skies promised rain.

Despite the wet weather thousands of fans packed the streets of Coleraine and gave all the competing teams a great reception.

It seemed like the whole town had come to a standstill to watch these young footballers, all with hopes of following in the footsteps of former Milk Cup stars David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Steve McManaman.

The parade wound its way through the centre of Coleraine before the teams filed into The Showgrounds, home of Coleraine FC.

Each team was then individually presented to the crowd and The Bees were given a great ovation by the supporters sheltered from the rain under the main stand.

Fans were treated to a customary haka by the Otago side while a number of the other teams from around the globe also entertained the crowd with native dance or song as they entered.

Once all the teams and match officials had been introduced, the match officials getting a slightly less warm welcome that the teams, it was left to Nicky Byrne to officially open the tournament.

As well as being a member of Westlife and helping to sell over 45 million records Nicky is also a three-time veteran of the Milk Cup with both Home Farm and Leeds United and a Republic of Ireland youth international.

Nicky got a great reception from the crowd although some of the players seemed a little less star-struck given the majority were six when Westlife last had a number one.

The ceremony’s finish coincided with the heavens opening and it was a dash back to the buses for all the teams before the rain got too much.

Once back at the hotel the players had a bite to eat before they split into team groups for a quick meeting and headed off to bed.

With the players asleep, the coaching and support staff finalised the itinerary for Monday which sees both sides open their campaign as the Under-15s face Watford and the Under-17s face the Lusaka Academy.