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 9–0 Falkland Islands (8 July 2001)
Biggest win
Falkland Islands 6–0 Frøya (18 July 2013)
Biggest defeat
Isle of Man 9–0 Falkland Islands (8 July 2001) Isle of Man 9–0 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 2009	Åland Islands	Falkland Islands	Frøya	1–3
Jun 30 2009	Åland Islands	Falkland Islands	Western Isles	1–7
Jun 29 2009	Åland Islands	Falkland Islands	Gotland	0–2
Jun 28 2009	Åland Islands	Falkland Islands	Isle of Man	1–2
Jul 15 2005	Shetland	Falkland Islands	Orkney	0–2
Jul 14 2005	Shetland	Falkland Islands	Åland Islands	1–2
Jul 13 2005	Shetland	Falkland Islands	Isle of Man	0–9
Jul 12 2005	Shetland	Falkland Islands	Saare County	2–1
Jul 10 2005	Shetland	Falkland Islands	Shetland	0–4
Jul 13 2001	Isle of Man	Falkland Islands	Orkney	4–1
Jul 12 2001	Isle of Man	Falkland Islands	Greenland	0–4
Jul 9 2001	Isle of Man	Falkland Islands	Guernsey	0–3
Jul 8 2001	Isle of Man	Falkland Islands	Isle of Man	0–9

Tournament records

Island Games record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2001	11th Place Match	11th	4	1	0	3	4	17
2005	9th Place Match	10th	5	1	0	4	3	18
2009	15th Place Match	16th	4	0	0	4	3	14
2011	13th Place Match	13th	3	0	0	3	1	17
2013	3rd Place Match	3rd	4	2	0	2	8	18
2015	11th place match	12th	4	1	0	3	3	11
Total			24	5	0	19	22	95

Current Squad

The following players have been called up for the 2015 Island Games which take 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	GK	Ben Hoyles	June 27, 2015	9	0	Falkland Holidays FC
13	GK	Ross Peters		0	0	FIDF FC
2	DF	Joshee Peck		9	1	LSE FC
3	DF	Luke Clarke		6	0	FIDF FC
5	DF	Kyle Biggs		9	0	FIDF FC
14	DF	Zaza Georgie Elbakidze		11	2	SeAled PR FC
16	DF	Javier Sotomayor		0	0	SeAled PR FC
20	DF	Doug Clarke		5	0	Unattached
4	MF	Shupi Chipunza		3	0	Malvina FC
6	MF	Daniel Biggs		11	0	Unattached
7	MF	Stevie Aldridge		5	0	SeAled PR FC
8	MF	Michael Betts		5	0	Malvina FC
11	MF	Andres Balladares		12	0	Unattached
12	MF	Paul Zeller		0	0	SeAled PR FC
15	DF	Lucas Biggs		0	0	FIDF FC
17	MF	Sam Toolan		0	0	Malvina FC
9	FW	Rafa Sotomayor		7	2	Falkland Holidays FC
10	FW	Aiden Morris		0	0	FIDF FC
18	FW	Alejandro Santana		0	0	Malvina FC
19	FW	Declan Bonner		0	0	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.

External links

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