Falkland Islands official football team

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 is not a member of FIFA and therefore the team is not eligible to play in official competitions such as the World Cup. The team has played in the Island Games in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2011.

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 the 9th of 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 the 24th of June and the 2nd of 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

Tournament records

Island Games record

Squad 2010

The following players will be playing in this year's NatWest Island Games.

• Benjamin Hoyles
• Paul Joshua
• Bill Chater
• Adam Glanville
• Ian Betts
• George Elbakidze
• Joshua Clayton
• Daniel Biggs
• Claudio Ross
• Michael Betts
• Joshua Peck
• Patricio Andres Balladares
• Paul Stephenson
• Aaron Franks
• Kyle Biggs
• Martyn Gilson-Clarke
• Rafael Sotomayor
• Wayne Clement
• Carlos Fajardo
• Saul Zuvic

Squad 2009 ^[1]

The following players were in the Island Games squad in 2009.

• Chris Gilbert (GK)
• Patricio Balladares
• Ian Betts (Brintel Chopper)
• Daniel Biggs (Kelper Store Celtics)
• Kyle Biggs (Kelper Store Celtics)
• Bill Chater (Tri Services F.C.)
• Doug Clark (Sealed PR Athletic)
• Luke Clarke (Brintel Choppers)
• Wayne Clement (Brintel Choppers)
• Zaza Elbakidze (Stanley F.C.)
• Carlos Fajardo (Brintel Choppers)
• Stephen Aldridge (Brintel Choppers)
• Martyn Gilson-Clarke
• Jeremy Henry (Brintel Choppers)
• Mark Lennon (Brintel Choppers)
• Andrew Morrison (Sulivan Blue Sox)
• James Peck (Stanley F.C.)
• Kevin Ross (Brintel Choppers)
• Claudio Ross (Tri Services F.C.)
• Thomas Wallace (Sealed PR Athletic)

References

External links

• Fedefútbol profile
• List of matches in Roon Ba
• Stadium profile at Worldstadia
• CSANF Website
• The Remotest Football Website