Falkland Islands official football team

Falkland Islands
Nickname(s) Stanley / The Warrahs
Association Falkland Islands Football League
Head coach Ian Betts
First colours
Second colours
First international
Isle of Man Isle of Man 9–0 Falkland Islands Falkland Islands
(8 July 2001)
Biggest win
Falkland Islands Falkland Islands 6–0 Frøya Frøya, Sør-Trøndelag
(18 July 2013)
Biggest defeat

Isle of Man Isle of Man 9–0 Falkland Islands Falkland Islands
(8 July 2001)

Isle of Man Isle of Man 9–0 Falkland Islands Falkland Islands
(13 July 2005)

The Falkland Islands official football team is a representative football team of the Falkland Islands, organised by the Falkland Islands Football League. The Falkland Islands Football League does not belong to the CONMEBOL, as its member countries support Argentina in the sovereignty conflict, and therefore neither can be a member of FIFA.[1][2] Thus, the team is not eligible to play in official competitions such as the World Cup and the Copa América. The team has played in the Island Games in 2001, 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2013 where the team enjoyed a record win and a 3rd place medal.

After two years with no League football it was decided that the Falkland Islands Football League (FIFL) would be completely revamped, a Constitution was drawn up and Committee members were put forward and accepted. After the Constitution was passed by interested players, a new league was organised with four teams, with players being picked by each of the team's captains. On 9 November the opening league fixtures were played.

At the same time, the Falkland Islands National team appointed manager Jimmy Curtis to lead the team at the 2009 Island Games in Åland. A squad of over 23 players was picked and training began in September 2008. The long distance needed to travel, the expensive cost to travel on RAF and LAN flights and the need to take between 16–18 players usually prevents the Football team from attending the Island Games more often than every four years. Due to the remoteness of the islands and the small population, the Stanley team can only play military teams or visiting warships.

The Falkland Islands football team will be competing at the NatWest Island Games this year, held between 24 June and 2 July 2011 on the Isle of Wight. Richard Franks has been appointed to lead the team as manager this year. Due to generous funding donated to the Falkland Islands Overseas Games Association the football team are sending 20 players to represent the Islands during this competition. Although some have played at the Island Games in the past, there are a number of new faces. A full team listing is provided below. The team have been drawn in Group C, with Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and Gotland.

This is the fourth time the Falkland Islands have competed in the Island Games and the fourth time they have faced the Isle of Man – as the teams were drawn in the same group in 2001, 2005, 2009 and now 2011. Although the FI's team lost 9–0 to the Isle of Man in 2001 and 2005, they managed only to concede two goals in the 2009 tournament, coming away with a hard fought 2–1 loss. The Falkland Islands played Guernsey for the first and last time in 2001, where the Falklands lost 3–0. They have also only played Gotland once in 2009 where Gotland won 2–0, however during the Gotland Game three Falkland players were given red cards, so the result was not as negative as it could have been.

Selected internationals

Date Venue Opponent Score
Jul 02 2009Åland Islands Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Frøya 1–3
Jun 30 2009Åland Islands Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Western Isles 1–7
Jun 29 2009Åland Islands Falkland Islands Falkland Islands Gotland Gotland 0–2
Jun 28 2009Åland Islands Falkland Islands Falkland Islands Isle of Man Isle of Man1–2
Jul 15 2005Shetland Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Orkney 0–2
Jul 14 2005Shetland Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Åland Islands 1–2
Jul 13 2005Shetland Falkland Islands Falkland Islands Isle of Man Isle of Man 0–9
Jul 12 2005Shetland Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Saare County 2–1
Jul 10 2005Shetland Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Shetland 0–4
Jul 13 2001Isle of Man Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Orkney 4–1
Jul 12 2001Isle of Man Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Greenland 0–4
Jul 9 2001Isle of Man Falkland Islands Falkland Islands  Guernsey 0–3
Jul 8 2001Isle of Man Falkland Islands Falkland Islands Isle of Man Isle of Man 0–9

Tournament records

Island Games record

Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Isle of Man 200111th Place Match11th4103417
Shetland 20059th Place Match10th5104318
Åland Islands 200915th Place Match16th4004314
Isle of Wight 201113th Place Match13th3003117
Bermuda 20133rd Place Match3rd4202818
Jersey 201511th place match12th4103311
Total 2450192295

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2015 Island Games which took place in Jersey from 27 June to 3 July 2015. Caps correct as of 18 July 2013.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Ben Hoyles 9 0 Falkland Islands Falkland Holidays FC
13 1GK Ross Peters 0 0 Falkland Islands FIDF FC
2 2DF Joshee Peck 9 1 England LSE FC
3 2DF Luke Clarke 6 0 Falkland Islands FIDF FC
5 2DF Kyle Biggs 9 0 Falkland Islands FIDF FC
14 2DF Zaza Georgie Elbakidze 11 2 Falkland Islands SeAled PR FC
16 2DF Javier Sotomayor 0 0 Falkland Islands SeAled PR FC
20 2DF Doug Clarke 5 0 Falkland Islands Unattached
4 3MF Shupi Chipunza 3 0 Falkland Islands Malvina
6 3MF Daniel Biggs 11 0 England Unattached
7 3MF Stevie Aldridge 5 0 Falkland Islands SeAled PR FC
8 3MF Michael Betts 5 0 Falkland Islands Malvina
11 3MF Andres Balladares 12 0 Falkland Islands Unattached
12 3MF Paul Zeller 0 0 Falkland Islands SeAled PR FC
15 2DF Lucas Biggs 0 0 Falkland Islands FIDF FC
17 3MF Sam Toolan 0 0 Falkland Islands Malvina
9 4FW Rafa Sotomayor 7 2 Falkland Islands Falkland Holidays FC
10 4FW Aiden Morris 0 0 Falkland Islands FIDF FC
18 4FW Alejandro Santana 0 0 Falkland Islands Malvina FC
19 4FW Declan Bonner 0 0 England Unattached

References

  1. "When Saturday Comes – Military tactics". Wsc.co.uk. 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  2. "When Saturday Comes – The football archipelago". Wsc.co.uk. 2011-06-25. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
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