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Manchester United won the competition last year in what was their eighth final in the competition, bringing their third success. They beat South Coast Bayern in last year's final just a year after losing to Fluminese in the 2007 final.
This week Portuguese club FC Porto have confirmed they will be taking part in a competition they first entered in 2005 during which they beat Chelsea. It will be their first return since 2006.
Co Down will also be in action and others to confirm so far are Cruz Azul, Otago from New Zealand and Aspire, the academy team from Qatar.
The draw for the competition will be held next month and there will be 24 teams in the tournament who will all play two qualifying matches. Those two fixtures will determine where they play next with them splitting into three separate competitions of eight teams each.
The top eight will play for the Northern Ireland Milk Cup, the next eight will compete for the BT Northern Ireland Trophy and the bottom three will be in the Dunluce Trophy.