Sealand national football team

Sealand

Nickname(s)	Seals
Association	Sealand National Football Association (SNFA)
Confederation	None
Captain	Ed Stubbs
Most caps	(8)
Top scorer	Dan Hughes (6)
Home stadium	Crawley Town F.C. Stadium
FIFA code	N/A
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	Not member of FIFA
First international
Åland 2–2 Sealand  (15 May 2004)
Biggest win
Raetia 1–6 Sealand  (Chur, Switzerland; 9 August 2014)
Biggest defeat
Occitania 8–0 Sealand  (Isle of Man; 5 July 2013)

The Sealand national football team represents the Principality of Sealand. It is not a member of FIFA or UEFA, but was an associate member of the N.F.-Board, an organisation for teams who are not members of FIFA. They were admitted to the N.F.-Board as a provisional member in 2005 and as an associate member in 2006, before the organisation became defunct in 2013.

History[]

Wey Court where Sealand played their first game after reforming in 2012 against the Chagos Islands national football team.

Foundation[]

The Sealand National Football Association (SNFA) was founded in 2003. In 2004, they played their first game against Åland drawing 2–2.^[1] All the players on the Sealand team were members of Vestbjerg Vintage Idrætsforening, a veterans side from Aalborg. However, the Danish-based SNFA ended their activities in 2006 and Sealand football took a break.

Recent times[]

On 23 December 2009, Scottish author Neil Forsyth was appointed head of the revived SNFA.^[2] He stated a goal of participation in the 2010 VIVA World Cup, a dream ultimately ended by a lack of finance. On 5 May 2012, Sealand took to the field against fellow N.F.-Board members the Chagos Islands at Weycourt in Godalming, Surrey. The Chagossians won 3–1, with scoring for Sealand. The team was captained by former Bolton Wanderers defender Simon Charlton and also included actor Ralf Little.^[2][3][4]

Sealand played an away game against Alderney on 25 August 2012.^[5] After drawing the match by a scoreline of 1–1, Sealand won 5–4 on penalties. On 9 March 2013 Sealand won their first ever international when they beat Alderney 2–1 in Godalming.

Sealand competed in the Tynwald Hill Tournament on the Isle of Man in July 2013. The tournament was held at Mullen-e-Cloie, St John's. Following a late 5–3 defeat to Tamil Eelam and an 8–0 demolition at the hands of eventual winners Occitania, Sealand finished bottom of their group and went on to the 5th place playoff where they beat Alderney 2–1.

In February 2014 Sealand recorded their record win as they beat the Chagos Islands 4–2 in Godalming.^[6]

In May 2014 Sealand drew 1–1 with the Chagos Islands at Crawley Town a fortnight before another draw, 2–2 with Somaliland (who were making their non-FIFA debut) in London.

Sealand underwent a European tour for the first time in August 2014 which proved to be hugely successful. In Chur a record 6–1 win over Raetia saw Dan Hughes become the record-scorer with 4 goals, before a 3–2 win over Seborga in Ospedaletti, Italy. Hughes added to his tally in that game and the Seals extended their unbeaten international run to 6 games.^[7]

Sealand has not been a member of a confederation since the N.F.-Board became defunct. An application to join CONIFA was rejected.^[8]

Overall record[]

Opponent	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
Åland	1	0	1	0	2	2
Alderney	3	2	1	0	5	3
Chagos Islands	3	1	1	1	6	6
Raetia	1	1	0	0	6	1
Seborga	1	1	0	0	3	2
Somaliland	1	0	1	0	2	2
Tamil Eelam	1	0	0	1	3	5
Occitania	1	0	0	1	0	8
Total	12	5	4	3	27	29

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

International results and upcoming fixtures[]

22-12-2014	Smethwick, England	Panjab	Sealand B	4–1
10-08-2014	Ospedaletti, Italy	Seborga	Sealand	2–3
09-08-2014	Chur, Switzerland	Raetia	Sealand	1–6
17-05-2014	London, England	Somaliland	Sealand	2–2
05-05-2014	Crawley, England	Chagos Islands	Sealand	1–1†
23-02-2014	Godalming, England	Sealand	Chagos Islands	4–2
07-07-2013	St John's, Isle of Man	Sealand	Alderney	2–1
05-07-2013	St John's, Isle of Man	Occitania	Sealand	8–0
04-07-2013	St John's, Isle of Man	Sealand	Tamil Eelam	3–5
08-03-2013	Godalming, England	Sealand	Alderney	2–1
25-08-2012	Alderney	Alderney	Sealand	1–1*
05-05-2012	Godalming, England	Sealand	Chagos Islands	1–3
15-05-2004	Åland	Åland	Sealand	2–2

–

†Sealand lost this game 4–3 on penalty kicks.

*Sealand won this game 5–4 on penalty kicks.

Coaches[]

Manager	Nat	Span	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win %	Honours
Christian Olsen		2003–2006	1	0	1	0	2	2	0%
Neil Forsyth		2009–2013	3	1	1	1	4	5	33.33%
Julian Dicks		2013	3	1	0	2	5	14	33.33%
Ed Stubbs		2013–present	7	5	2	0	24	10	71.43%

Kit[]

Sealand's kit has the same colors as the flag of Sealand. Their original kit consisted of a red shirt with white trim, black shorts and white socks, and was provided by JJB with sponsorship from UK investment firm Property Secrets.^[9]

For the , Sealand introduced a new Nike home kit, in red, with a white stripe down the right-hand side. In the 8–0 defeat to Occitania, Sealand debuted their Stanno away kit of a white shirt with pale red shorts.

References[]