FA backing for international

Tuesday 23rd February 2010, 3:00PM GMT.

Hopes are high that the likes of Gibraltar, Madeira and Jersey, represented above by captains Roy Chipolina, Joao Freitas and Stuart André in a friendly tournament at Springfield in 2008, will be able to compete on a regular basis

JERSEY footballers could soon being playing on an international stage in a tournament being backed by the Football Association.

Letters have gone out to 16 small nations – and six have already returned favourable replies.

An idea proposed by Jersey Football Association chief executive officer Paul Creeden has the support of the JFA’s executive committee and the Guernsey Football Association.

The JFA and the FA are driving plans for a new event with the working title ‘The International Challenge Shield.’

Competition is aimed at smaller island associations that may never get the opportunity to play in international competitions, other than the biennial NatWest Island Games.

Creeden said: ‘It’s still early days. The majority of the smaller nationals have been targeted through the Island Games and we are currently awaiting their replies.’

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