They were led by Sussex-based manager Jimmy Ferrar until June 2024 when a number of players expressed a desire to play under the British Indian Ocean Territory name, leading to a split and two separate teams under different names representing the territory.
History
Union Chagossiene de Football years
Chagos Islands and Tuvalu line up before their match in June 2018
In 2004, following the granting of Chagossians living in the UK the right to apply for a British passport, a group of islanders living near Crawley in West Sussex founded a governing body for football among their community, and the wider worldwide Chagossian diaspora, with a view to forming a national team. This resulted in the formation of the Union Chagossiene de Football, which joined the N.F.-Board, an international body for national football teams unable to join FIFA, in 2005.[1] Amongst the activities the UCF undertook was organizing a club side, Chagos Islands F.C., which played in the Crawley and District Football League until it was disbanded in 2010. With no immediate UK domestic outlet for their players to play, the UCF attempted to promote the side in the international arena, attempting to take a team to the 2010 Viva World Cup in Gozo. However, owing to the association's financial situation, and the wholly amateur status of the players, this was not possible.[1] Attempts to reform the club side in another local league in Sussex also failed, leading to the team training regularly, but not playing.
In December 2011, a friendly was finally arranged with the Raetia football team, another member of the N.F.-Board, who not only came to the UK, but also brought a full set of kit for the Chagossian team to use. The game was played at the ground of Oakwood F.C., for whom Chagossian straker Mervin Bhujan was a player, and who arranged use of the stadium, and led to a 6–1 victory for the Chagos Islands. This led to hopes that the team would be able to participate more fully in N.F.-Board events, but lack of finances again meant this was to prove impossible.[1]
In May 2012, a second match was organized, this time against Sealand. This was a first "away" game for the Chagossians, played at the home of Godalming Town F.C. in Surrey, which was used by Sealand for their home games, and resulted in a second consecutive win for the Chagos Islands.[2] However, in spite of successfully staging a pair of games, the UCF was forced to fold.
Chagos Football Association years
In February 2013, a new organization, the Chagos Football Association, was formed by Sabrina Jean and others to continue the management of the Chagos team.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The first match organized under the new body was a game against Sealand, taking place in February 2014 at Godalming, and which saw the Chagossians suffer their first defeat.[9][10] A third game was quickly organized, this time taking place at the home of Crawley Town F.C., in May 2014, ending in a 1–1 draw.[11]
In February 2014, around the same time as playing their second fixture against Sealand, the CFA joined ConIFA, in an attempt to find more regular games.[12] The team played its first official fixture against another member of ConIFA when they turned out for a game against Somaliland in London in November 2014, again ending in a 1–1 draw.[13] In 2015, the CFA announced its intention to attempt to qualify to participate in its first tournament, the ConIFA World Football Cup, via ConIFA's recently announced qualification process, by participating in a tournament hosted by Raetia, the Benedikt Fontana Cup.[14] Originally planned as a three-team tournament, this altered into a two-legged play-off between the hosts and the Chagossians. However, just before the tie was due to take place, the Chagossians were forced to withdraw.[15] This did not stop the ambition of the CFA to participate, with a fundraising effort to help the team make it to the 2016 tournament in Abkhazia announced in October 2015.[16] To this end, the team played another friendly against Panjab in December 2015, which saw the team suffer its heaviest defeat 4–1.[17]
In January 2016, the Chagos Islands were announced as one of the 12 participants in the 2016 World Football Cup.[18] The opportunity to participate in a first ever overseas tournament led to a drive to raise the money necessary to allow the team to make the journey to Abkhazia.[19] The Chagos Islands were successful in raising the necessary funds and took part in the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup, however the team failed to win a single game and suffer 2 of their biggest defeats in the group stage, 9–0 loss to Panjab and 12–0 loss to Western Armenia, the team subsequently lost 3–2 to Somaliland and lost on penalties to Raetia after drawing 3–3 in their final game of the tournament.
Following the 2016 World Football Cup the Chagos Islands participated in the World Unity Cup, originally organised by Darfur United, who later withdrew, the Chagos Islands would play 3 games in total against Barawa, recording their first victory since 2012, 3–2 in the opening game, before losing two games against Tamil Eelam, both 5–1, with all games played at Gander Green Lane, home of Sutton United FC.[20]
In 2017, the Chagos Islands participated in the Niamh Challenge Cup, organised by Ellan Vannin, for a place in the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup. [21] The Chagos Islands would play two games, losing both to Barawa, 3–0, and Ellan Vannin, 14–0. This meant the team failed to qualify for the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup hosted by Barawa in London.
In 2018, the Chagos Islands played friendly fixtures against new CONIFA members Yorkshire and Barawa, losing both games. Following the sudden withdrawal of Ellan Vannin partway through the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup after a controversial decision of the inclusion of an alleged ineligible player the Chagos Islands played two friendlies against Matabeleland and Tuvalu.[22][23]
In early 2019, the Chagos Islands played a friendly against the county of Surrey, recording their first win since 2016, a 3–2 victory over the hosts in Merstham. Following losses to Cascadia, Parishes of Jersey and Kernow the team appointed Jimmy Ferrar as their new manager.[24] Ferrar has previously managed at Oakwood, Crawley Down and Alfold where he won the Southern Combination Div 1 for season 2018/19.[citation needed]
The Chagos Islands would go on to play a number of games over the final months of 2019, a Yorkshire-based charity team, local non-FIFA side Surrey, and Panjab.[25] Like teams across the world the Chagos Islands were unable to play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were unable to participate in the 2020 CONIFA World Football Cup in North Macedonia.[26]
In July 2020, the Chagos Islands were announced as co-founding members of the World Unity Football Alliance a new governing body of non-FIFA international football. [27] and were later announced as participants of the inaugural WUFA World Series hosted by International Surrey Football and played behind closed doors in May 2021 at Merrist Wood College, near Guildford in Surrey.[28]
The team would record a 3–1 semi-final victory over hosts Surrey before a 2–2 draw in the final against Barawa saw the game being decided by penalties. The Chagos Islands won 5–4 on penalties to claim their first-ever piece of silverware.[29]
In July 2024, a team under the name of Chagos Islands (BIOT) played its first international match against Kernow, losing 5–2. Jimmy Ferrar was the manager.[31][32] The team's home kit featured the Flag of the British Indian Ocean Territory.[33]
The Sealand national football team represents the unrecognized, self-proclaimed micronation of 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. The team has been inactive since 2014, although discussions are underway to revive the team as of April 2023.
The Artsakh national football team, until 2017 known as the Nagorno-Karabakh national football team, was the national representative of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), which was internationally unrecognized. Consequently, it was not a member of FIFA or UEFA and was therefore not eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship.
The Somaliland national football team is the football team that represents Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as a de facto state. Although Somaliland is a de facto state, it has not yet received international de jure recognition. Somaliland is not a member of FIFA and CAF; it is, instead, an associate member of ConIFA, an association established in 2014 of teams from dependencies, unrecognised states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions that are not affiliated with FIFA.
The Cascadia national soccer team is a soccer team representing the men's side of the Cascadia region of the United States and Canada and is controlled by the Cascadia Association Football Federation (CAFF). The team is composed of players from the U.S states of Oregon, Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia. The stated mission of the team is "...to allow Cascadia as a distinct cultural entity, isolated bioregion and growing society with common interests to be represented at the international level in the sport we are all passionate about." CAFF is a member of ConIFA. Cascadia is not a member of FIFA or any confederation or sub-confederation as the region is wholly a part of both the United States or Canada. However, CAFF is not opposed to those organizations and sees itself coexisting as a non-FIFA regional representative team.
The CONIFA World Football Cup is an international football tournament organized by CONIFA, an umbrella association for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA, which has been held every two years since 2014. This tournament is the successor of the Viva World Cup which was held from 2006 to 2012.
The Ellan Vannin Football Team is a football team that represents the Isle of Man. It is not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, and therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cup or in the UEFA European Championship.
The 2015 ConIFA European Football Cup was the first edition of the ConIFA European Football Cup, an international football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA organised by CONIFA. The tournament was originally planned to be hosted by Ellan Vannin on the Isle of Man; this expanded to then see the group games and placement rounds held in South East England, while the semi-finals, third-place play-off and final would take place in Douglas. However, in March 2015, at the draw for the tournament, it was announced that the tournament would no longer be held in the Isle of Man, instead moving to be hosted by new entrant Székely Land in Hungary. In 2015, ConIFA announced that the tournament would serve as part of the qualification process for the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup, with the top three teams qualifying automatically.
The Panjab Football Team is a representative football team formed in 2014 in the United Kingdom to represent the Punjabi diaspora. The team is governed by the Football Association of Panjab, this is not to be confused with the Punjab Football Association, which is the state governing body of football in the Punjab state of India.
The 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup qualification was a football competition to determine some of the participants of the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup. This was the first time a qualification process was used for the ConIFA World Cup. The first qualification match was played on 30 May 2015 between the newly constituted Felvidék team and the team representing Alderney, with the first goal scored by Felvidék's Zoltán Novota.
The 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup was the second edition of the ConIFA World Football Cup, an international football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA organised by ConIFA. The tournament was hosted by the Football Federation of Abkhazia, with the Abkhazia team becoming the first host nation to win the tournament.
The 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup qualification was the process to decide a number of the teams that will play in the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup. This is the second tournament to feature a qualification process, following on from the 2016 qualification. The first qualification match played was on 13 March 2016 between the Tamil Eelam team and the team representing the Romani people, with the first goal scored by Tamil Eelam's Panushanth Kulenthiran.
The Western Armenia national football team is a football team representing the Armenians primarily from the historical region of Western Armenia, which is currently within the borders of Turkey.
The 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup was the third edition of the CONIFA World Football Cup, an international football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA organised by CONIFA. The tournament was hosted by Barawa Football Association, with all games held in and around London. The tournament was sponsored by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power. After being a late entry to the tournament, Kárpátalja won their first title on 9 June 2018, defeating Northern Cyprus 3–2 on penalties in the final.
The Kárpátalja football team is a team representing the Hungarian minority in Carpathian Ruthenia, a historic region mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. It is a member of ConIFA, an umbrella association for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA.
The Matabeleland football team is the team representing Matabeleland, the western part of Zimbabwe. They are not affiliated with FIFA or CAF, and therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations. The team is affiliated to the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA).
The Barawa football team is the team representing the Somali diaspora in England. It is named after Barawa, a port town in Somalia. It hosted the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup.
Yorkshire international football team represents Yorkshire as a region in international association football. The team are affiliated with WUFA, it does not play in FIFA and UEFA matches. The team were previously affiliated with CONIFA.
The 2019 Atlantic Heritage Cup was the first edition of the Atlantic Heritage Cup, and is a qualification tournament for the 2020 CONIFA World Football Cup in Skopje, North Macedonia. Yorkshire were announced in March 2019 as hosts, with Parishes of Jersey, Ellan Vannin and Kernow also originally set to participate. All 4 teams are either part of the United Kingdom, or are Crown dependencies. However, Ellan Vannin and Kernow both pulled out for undisclosed reasons, being replaced by Chagos Islands and reducing the tournament to a 3 team format.
The Kernow football team represents Cornwall at international association football since 2018. It uses the native Cornish name of the region, Kernow, to represent its team, and is managed by the Kernow Football Alliance. As the side is not a member of UEFA or FIFA, it cannot qualify for the UEFA European Championship or FIFA World Cup, although it is a member of ConIFA and is eligible to participate in the ConIFA World Football Cup and ConIFA European Football Cup. The team is currently managed by Darren Gilbert, and coached by Darren Wright, Andrew Graham and Wayne Roberts. In 2023 Kernow faced FA Sápmi in a deciding match to join the 2024 ConIFA World Football Cup. Kernow won 2-1 progressing to the 2024 CONIFA World Football Cup finals.
References
1 2 3 Stubbs, Ed (30 April 2012). "The Chagossian Dream". In Bed With Maradona. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
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Chagos Islands 6–1 Raetia 
Ellan Vannin 14–0 Chagos Islands 
