The Northern Ireland national under-17 football team (also known as Northern Ireland under-17, under-17s or U17) represents Northern Ireland in association football at under-17 level. It is controlled by the Irish Football Association. The team first competed as Northern Ireland under-16 before evolving into the current under-17 side when UEFA realigned their youth tournaments in 2001. They have qualified for the finals of the UEFA European Under-16 Championships four times (1987, 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1997) and for the UEFA European Under-17 Championships once (2004). In addition to the UEFA Championships the team also plays regular friendlies and in minor tournaments from similar age-group teams from throughout the world.