People who live on islands enjoy playing and watching football as much as anyone else, but providing viable competitions is not easy.
The first category is where the island is well populated and has good transport links to the mainland. The Isle of Wight is the classic example and its non-league teams compete in mainland leagues. Southampton and Portsmouth are also relatively easily accessible.
People who live on islands enjoy playing and watching football as much as anyone else, but providing viable competitions is not easy.
The first category is where the island is well populated and has good transport links to the mainland. The Isle of Wight is the classic example and its non-league teams compete in mainland leagues. Southampton and Portsmouth are also relatively easily accessible.
The second category is where the island is more isolated, but has sufficient population to sustain a viable island league, the Isle of Man being a case in point. Mainland league teams are invited over for a summer tournament.
Guernsey is a special variant because they have managed to enter a combined island team in the Ryman League. This required a fair amount of money to fund travel for away matches and to bring teams over to Guernsey. Home crowds have fallen off a little, but are still good for that level of football.
Orkney is rather a special case as football has to be played in the summer. There isn’t enough light in the winter. When I was there in July the Parishes Cup was reaching its climax, alhough waterlolgged pitches were a problem. There are local fans of Glasgow clubs, but, unless they can afford to fly, they face a long boat trip to Aberdeen and then a coach journey.
The oddest case of all is provided by the Isles of Scilly, 25 miles or so off the Cornish coast and with a winter population of around 2,000. Earlier this week I visited a new exhibit that the island museum has developed on the history of football there.
At one time there was an inter-islands tournament which was won one year by the small island of St. Martins (population around 70). However, this faded away. By the 1950s the proprietor of the largest off island, Tresco, was complaining that there were not enough young men to form a football team.
The main island of St. Marys has had two teams for years which play each other for the league, cups and the charity shield. Originally Rangers and Rovers, and then Nomads and Exiles, they are now the Woolpack Wanderers and Garrison Gunners. They play all matches at the Garrison Field where one fan used to bring his own portable stand, now on display in the museum.
Now neither side can field a full team. However, last Sunday, there seemed to be plenty of people heading up the hill for the match. Any live football is better than nothing.
You can watch a video of the Isles of Scilly league here. Even David Beckham gave them a helping hand.