The Shetland football team represents the islands of Shetland, Scotland, in association football. It is not a member of FIFA or UEFA and is therefore not eligible to enter the World Cup or the European Championships. The team regularly competes in the Island Games, which it won in 2005, and has a strong rivalry with the representative team of Orkney.[1][2][3] This representative team should not be confused with Shetland FC, which was formed as a separate entity to compete during the mainland's winter season cup competitions - despite being separate entities, the teams share management staff and squad of players.[4]
| Nickname(s) | The Shelties, The Blues | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Shetland Football Association | ||
| Head coach | Neil Fenwick | ||
| Captain | Erik Peterson | ||
| Home stadium | Gilbertson Park, Lerwick, Shetland | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Orkney 2–3 Shetland  (Kirkwall, Orkney; 7 May 1919) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
| Orkney 0–8 Shetland (Kirkwall, Orkney; 30 July 2022) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
| Orkney 7–1 Shetland (Kirkwall, Orkney; 30 June 1972) | |||
Venues
editShetland normally play their home matches at Gilbertson Park (capacity unknown, highest attendance approximately 5,000, sometimes referred to as "the Gibbie") in Lerwick. Some matches, particularly friendlies, are occasionally played elsewhere, often at Seafield (Lerwick) or Harbison Park (Whalsay). They sometimes go on tour to play pre-season friendlies against Highland League clubs in July.
Competitions
editBeginning in 1929, Shetland played biennial matches against the Faroe Islands. These were initially played for the Adam Shield (donated by a Glasgow shipbuilding firm) and later for the North Atlantic Cup. The logistics of this required a 14-hour trip by boat trip and a week-long stay for the visiting team. The last such friendly was played in 1990, the same year that the Faroes joined UEFA.[5]
Shetland are neither a national team nor do they participate in league competitions, so they do not have many regular games.
However, more recently, they have entered some of the cup competitions organized by the North Caledonian Football Association.
The latest most noticeable event to take place in Shetland was the 2005 Island Games: many of the group matches were played on pitches all around Shetland, and the final was at Gilbertson Park.
2005 Island Games
editMatch: Final
Shetland Islands 2 (0) V 0 (0) Guernsey
Time: 16:00 Date: Friday 15 July 2005 Venue: Gilbertson Park
Group 1 matches
edit| Pos. | Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Shetland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| 2nd | Isle of Man | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 7 |
| 3rd | Saaremaa | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 4th | Åland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | –3 | 3 |
| 5th | Falkland Islands | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 | –13 | 3 |
Current squad
editThis is the squad that competed in the 2023 Milne Cup held in Shetland.[6]
Goalkeepers
Andrew Goodlad (Celtic), Rory Henderson (Scalloway)
Defenders
Lorne McNiven (Whitedale), Liam Flaws (Ness Utd), Josh Carroll (Spurs), James Farmer (c) (Ness Utd), Jack Clubb (Celtic).
Midfielders
Neil Laurenson (Whalsay), Declan Adamson (Ness Utd), Calvin Leask (Thistle), Brandon McKay (Spurs), James Aitken (Celtic), Harry Thomson (Ness Utd), Ronan Grant (Spurs).
Forwards
Sam Maver (Spurs), Finn Regan (Celtic).
Coaches Neil Fenwick (Manager), Richard Arthur (Coach), Bruce McCulloch (Coach), Craig Dinwoodie (GK Coach), Martin Leyland (Conditioning).
Notable players
edit
Duncan Bray - inducted in University of Southern Indiana Athletic Hall of Fame 
[7]
Tournament records
editIsland Games record
edit| Island Games record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
 1989 |
Group stage | 5th | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
 1991 |
Group stage | 5th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
 1993 |
7th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | |
 1995 |
Did not enter | |||||||
 1997 |
Group stage | 5th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
 1999 |
10th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 14 | |
 2001 |
8th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | |
 2003 |
7th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | |
| 2005 |
Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
 2007 |
Did not enter | |||||||
| 2009 |
Group stage | 13th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 2011 |
Did not enter | |||||||
 2013 |
Did not enter | |||||||
| 2015 |
Fourth place | 4th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 |
| 2017 |
Group stage | 10th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| 2019[n 1] |
Fourth place | 4th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 8 |
| 2023 |
Group stage | 7th | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 |
| Total | 1 title | 12/16 | 56 | 22 | 7 | 27 | 99 | 107 |
- ^ Not held football tournament (Replaced by 2019 Inter Games Football Tournament in
Anglesey).
Note: 2 points for a win era.
| Year | Position | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–1973 | 2nd | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 21 | -3 | 7 |
Including Kirkwall vs. Lerwick
| Location | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908–2020
|
57 | 6 | 39 | 230 | 184 | 46 |
- 61 Milne Cup wins
Mitchell Shield
edit| Location | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–2014
|
9 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 10 | 49 |
- 9 Mitchell shields wins
Sutherland Shield
edit| Location | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007, 2008, 2011
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 9 | 12 |
- 2 Sutherland Shield wins
Selected International opponents
edit- Last update: 26 July 2009
| Opponents | Matches | Win | Draw | Loss | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Åland
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 25.00 |
 Falkland Islands
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 100.00 |
| Faroe Islands
|
24 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 37 | 66 | −29 | 25.00 |
 Frøya
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Gibraltar
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 75.00 |
 Greenland
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 33.33 |
| Guernsey
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 66.67 |
 Hitra
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 100.00 |
| Isle of Man
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 25.00 |
| Isle of Wight
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00 |
| Jersey
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0.00 |
 Menorca
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Orkney
|
86 | 50 | 4 | 32 | 207 | 156 | +51 | 58.14 |
 Saare County
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 66.67 |
 Western Isles
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0.00 |
 Ynys Môn
|
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 0.00 |
Honours
editNon-FIFA competitions
edit- Island Games:
- Gold medal: 2005
Others titles
edit- North Caledonian F.A.
- Jock Mackay Cup:
- Winners: 2014–15
- Jock Mackay Cup:
References
edit- ^ "Shetland Shock to End: The 2005 Island Games ended with the biggest shock in island games football history". BBC Sport. 16 July 2005. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ "Football and hockey teams get ready to entertain Orkney rivals". The Shetland Times. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Shields, Tom (22 July 2007). "Island Fling: Tom Shields investigates the very special rivalry between Orkney and Shetland". The Sunday Herald. Glasgow: Scottish Media Group.
- ^ "Shetland Squad : Shetland Football". www.shetlandfootball.co.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- ^ When Shetland met Faroe and the real romance of the cup
- ^ "Milne Cup 2023". www.shetlandtimes.co.uk.
- ^ "Bray in US university hall of fame". shetlandtimes.co.uk.
- ^ "North Atlantic Cup 1968-1973". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "Milne Cup". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "Mitchell and Sutherland Shields". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 July 2021.