Brittany national football team

Brittany
Nickname(s) The Black Devils
Association Breton Football Association (BFA)
Head coach Claude Le Roy
First colours
Second colours
First international
Brittany Brittany 1 – 0 Luxembourg 
Rennes, 12 March 1922
Biggest win
Brittany Brittany 3 – 1 Congo 
Saint-Brieuc, 20 May 2008
Biggest defeat
Brittany Brittany 1 – 5 Norway 
Rennes, 1 November 1923

The Brittany football select is the professional football team of Brittany, France. It is administered by the Breton Football Association (BFA). It is neither affiliated to FIFA nor UEFA but is characterised as one of the six Celtic nations and has also been referred to as "Little Britain", as opposed to Great Britain. Its games are held under the auspices of the French Football Federation and FIFA Regulations[1] Amateur football in Brittany is administered by both the Ligue de Bretagne and the Ligue Atlantique, which are regional associations within the French FA.

Squad selection

Brittany plays unofficial internationals. BFA has a pool of around 100 players in the first three professional divisions to choose from, some of them with proven international football experience. Brittany's Stéphane Guivarc'h won the 1998 World Cup with France.

Brittany notably held Cameroon to a 1–1 draw before the 1998 World Cup finals, featuring Paul Le Guen. Six games had to be called off between 1999 and 2005 because of the then French FA administration, which contradicted its own rules. Fortunately, the head of the French FA administration changed and BFA finally recovered in order to fully resume its activities in 2008. Its latest game was played versus Mali (1-0) on 28 May 2013.

Celtic Cup Ambitions

BFA offered other Celtic nations to join in a Celtic Nations Championship between 1985 and 1987. On 9 September 1985, BFA Secretary Fañch Gaume, visiting Cardiff on the eve of a World Cup qualifier between Wales and Scotland, sounded both the FA of Wales and the Scottish FA about participation to a Celtic Nations Cup. Informal conversations were followed up by correspondence and further personal exchanges, whenever the opportunity presented itself before international games.

While Wales showed a genuine interest, the offer finally fell on barren ground with Scotland. Rejection letters from the SFA for non-entry stated the difficulties to find suitable dates but, as the Sports Editor of "The Glasgow Herald" Jim Reynolds presented it: "It is just two years since England and Scotland broke up the British International Championship by calling a halt to regular games featuring Northern Ireland and Wales. So, the chances of a Celtic Championship involving Scotland must be remote." [2]

Brittany recently renewed its claims to organise and take part in the new Celtic Nations Cup [3] with the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales by 2015 at the earliest or 2017.

Brittany's next game will be played on 19 May 2014.

Internationals

Date Venue Home Team Away Team Score
12 March 1922Rennes  Brittany  Luxembourg1–0
11 February 1923Esch-sur-Alzette  Luxembourg  Brittany1–4
1 November 1923Rennes  Brittany  Norway1–5
23 March 1924Rennes  Brittany  Luxembourg1–1
22 February 1925Luxembourg  Luxembourg  Brittany1–1
10 April 1938Brest  Brittany  Germany XIcalled-off
23 April 1939Brest  Brittany  Luxembourg3–1
30 December 1988Brest  Brittany  United States6 – 2 (indoor)
21 May 1998Rennes  Brittany  Cameroon1–1
25 May 1999Nantes  Brittany  Republic of Irelandcalled-off °
30 May 2000Nantes  Brittany  Romaniacalled-off °
20 March 2001Angers  Brittany  Cubacalled-off °
22 May 2001Lorient  Brittany  Moroccocalled-off °
31 August 2001Lorient  Brittany  Latviacalled-off °
June 2003-  Brittany  New Zealandcalled-off °
20 May 2008Saint-Brieuc  Brittany  Congo3–1
19 May 2010Ajaccio  Corsica  Brittany2–0
21 May 2010Bastia  Brittany  Togo2–1
2 June 2011Saint-Nazaire  Brittany  Equatorial Guinea0–1
28 May 2013Nantes  Brittany  Mali1-0
20 May 2014Vannes  Brittany  Central African Republiccalled-off

° game agreed but not played because of then French FA administration (1999–2005).

Capped Players

Opponents: Cm (Cameroon), Cg (Republic of Congo), Cs (Corsica), Gq (Equatorial Guinea), Oi (Nantes 'Ouest Indoor' Tournament), Tg (Togo), Us (USA).

Last-minute defections through injury or illness:

Managers

Latest squad

The following players were called for a match against Equatorial Guinea in Saint-Nazaire, Brittany, France on June 2, 2011.[4]

# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
GK Vincent Briant 9 January 1986 France Sedan
GK Mickaël Caradec 29 April 1982 France Châteauroux
DF Florent Besnard 30 April 1984 France Paris
DF Jean-Christophe Cesto 24 January 1987 France Le Pontet
DF Nicolas Gillet 11 August 1976 France Angers
DF Arnaud Le Lan 22 March 1978 Brittany Lorient
DF Jérémy Le Sourne 25 January 1988 Brittany Lorient
DF Romain Poletti 3 September 1988 Corsica Gazélec Ajaccio
DF Pierre Talmont 2 April 1977 France Laval
DF Romain Thomas 12 June 1988 Brittany Carquefou
MF Pierre-Yves Begot 3 October 1986 Brittany Plabennec
MF Ronan Biger 8 October 1985 France Les Herbiers
MF David Bouard 12 March 1977 Brittany Vannes
MF Mathieu Bouyer 17 January 1987 France Trélissac
MF Fabien Debray 5 October 1981 France Alfortville
MF Julien Féret 5 July 1982 France Nancy
MF Ollivier Gueguen 27 June 1990 Brittany Plabennec
MF Maël Illien 30 August 1990 Brittany Guingamp
MF Jérôme Lebouc 26 December 1979 France Laval
MF Guillaume Moullec 7 March 1980 France Clermont
MF Farid Raïs 7 February 1990 Brittany Plabennec
FW Vincent Le Baron 10 June 1989 Brittany Vannes
FW Vincent Le Mat 22 April 1986 France Orléans
FW Yann Kermorgant 8 November 1981 1 1 England AFC Bournemouth

Image gallery

Notes and references

  1. ↑ III.8.3, p. 59).
  2. ↑ "The Celtic Nations' Union". The Herald (Glasgow) (George Outram & Co). 7 November 1986.
  3. ↑ "Scotland could compete in new Celtic Nations Cup in Brittany". The Herald (Glasgow) (Herald & Times Group). 22 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "La liste des 23 joueurs bretons" (in French). Bretagne-football.org. Retrieved 2012-08-21.

External links