| Union | English Shinty Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground(s) | No fixed ground | ||
| Captain(s) | Matt Mossop | ||
| Top scorer | Matt Casey | ||
| |||
| Largest win | |||
 England 8–0 USA  , 3 May 2014 | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
 Strachur and District Shinty Club 21-0 England 5 May 2018 | |||
The English Shinty Team is the team selected to represent The English Shinty Association and the sport of shinty in England. [1] It has competed at International level against the United States and Alba, and also competes in Scottish cup competitions at club level.
The English Shinty Team was formed along with the English Shinty Association in 2013 to represent the association in fixtures.
They took on the USA in what was dubbed as the first ever Shinty International at St Andrews in 2013, winning 2–0. [2]
Since then, The English Shinty Team have entered the Bullough Cup annually and played friendly matches when possible as noted below.To celebrate their 10th Anniversary and Tayforths 40th Anniversary, 20th May 2023 saw ESA's historic first 'senior'home match v Tayforth in the second round of the Bullough Cup played at Greenford in London, preserving ESA's then unbeaten home record with a 1-0 win for ESA. ESA had been drawn at home just once before (though having to play in Scotland), beating Ballachuillish 4-2 at St Andrews in 2019 in their only other win at that point. 2024 saw ESA Women fail to progress on penalties in the WCA Cup first round and the 'seniors' loosing their 2 game 11 year 'home' unbeaten run again the Bullough Cup eventual winners Lochside 8-1. A first shinty-hurling club international with European Champions Paris GAA saw ESA well beaten by the European Champions on St Andrews Day in Greenford, London. 2025 saw 3 ESA 6s teams (Cornwall, Durham and ESA) enter the largest ever (36 teams) Jack Asher 6s tournament in Glasgow in January, with ESA progressing to the semi-finals. ESA enter the Chieftain's Cup for the first time as well as the Bullough and WCA Challenge Cups. Whilst the women narrowly lost out in the first round of the WCA Cup, the 'Seniors' won both first round 'home' ties against Tayforth- with a 3-1 win played at Peterson Park, Glasgow 12/4/2025 in the Cheiftains Cup and a tight 1-0 win played at St Andrews 20/4/2025 in the 1st Round of the Bullough Cup. Ballachuillish proved too much in the second round of the Chieftains, but a 7-1 win over Stirling Camanchdh- at 'home' at Peterson Park May 24th, set-up another 'home' clash with Lochside in the semi-final of the Bullough, where Lochside came away 7-2 winners.
Players are generally considered eligible to play for the ESA team if they are registered with one of the shinty clubs based in England and not playing with any other club at the time. Most of the players are permanently resident in England, but there have been cases of players who have a historical link with England (often by birth or long residency in the country) and are not registered with another club registering and joining the team for matches.
| Date | Competition | Match | Result | Captain | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 April 2013 | International Challenge | ESA vs USA | 2–0 | Graham Love | Alan MacDonald x2 | |
| 18 May 2013 | Bullough Cup | Tayforth vs ESA | 11-1 | Alan MacDonald | ||
| 3 April 2014 | International Challenge | ESA vs USA | 8-0 | Matthew Casey x5 Alan MacDonald Matt Mossop | ||
| 31 May 2014 | Bullough Cup | Ballachulish Camanachd Club 2nd team vs ESA | 2-0 | John Kewley | ||
| 2014 | Bullough Plate | Aberdour vs ESA | 2-0 | John Kewley | ||
| 2015 | Bullough Cup | Kyles Athletic 2nd team vs ESA | 16-0 | Matt Mossop (acting) | ||
| 11 June 2016 | Bullough Cup | Glasgow Mid Argyll 2nd team vs ESA | 6-1 | John Kewley | Matt Mossop | |
| 2017 | Bullough Cup | Kyles Athletic 2nd team vs ESA | 7-0 | Luke Sparrow | ||
| 5 May 2018 | Friendly | Aberdour 2nd team vs ESA | 4-4 | James Hoppy | Mossop x2, Matthew Young, Craig Holt | |
| 16 June 2018 | Bullough Cup | Strachur and District Shinty Club vs ESA | 21-0 | James Hoppy | ||
| 28 July 2018 | International series match | Alba (shinty team) vs ESA | 11-1 | Matt Mossop | Matt Mossop | |
| 6 October 2018 | Friendly | ESA vs Celts | 3-1 | Matt Mossop | Easter Tour 2019 19 April 2019 Friendly ESA vs Uddingston 6-1 Capt James Livingstone ESA Scorers Livingstone x2, Hopkins, Holley x2, Soane 20 April 2019 Friendly ESA vs St Andrews Uni 12-2 Capt Matt Mossop ESA Scorers Soane x7, Mossop x3, Hopkins, Holley 21 April 2019 International Challenge England v Scottish Universities Select 7-10 England Scorers Soane x3, Mossop x2, Hopkins, Holley [3] | |
| 4 May 2019 | Bullough Cup | ESA vs Ballachulish Camanachd Club 2nd team | 4-2 | Matt Mossop | Christopher Holley x2, James Livingstone x2 | |
| 15 June 2019 | Bullough Cup (2nd round) | Lochside Rovers vs ESA | 6-2 | Matt Mossop | James Livingstone | |
| 22 February 2020 | Friendly | Tayforth vs ESA | 5-1 | Matt Mossop | Christopher Holley | |
| 20 June 2021 | Bullough Cup | Kilmory Camanachd vs ESA | 5-0 | David Mclean | ||
| 30 April 2022 | Bullough Cup | Kilmory Camanachd vs ESA | 5-0 | Barra de Burca |
The song "When you hear the lions' roar" is an ode to the English Shinty Team and makes reference to the dying out of shinty in England and its replacement with hockey. It also makes reference to England's history and the difficulty some Scottish players have playing for the team. [4]
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