Sealand national football team

Sealand

Nickname(s)	Seals
Association	Sealand National Football Association (SNFA)
Confederation	None
Captain	Ed Stubbs
Most caps	Christian Gunn Jack Field Sam Churchman (8)
Top scorer	Dan Hughes (6)
Home stadium	Broadfield Stadium
FIFA code	N/A
First colours Second colours
First international
Åland 2–2 Sealand   (Åland; 15 May 2004)
Biggest win
Raetia 1–6 Sealand   (Chur, Switzerland; 9 August 2014)
Biggest defeat
Occitania 8–0 Sealand   (St John's, Isle of Man; 5 July 2013)

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. ^[1]

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. ^[2] In 2004, they played their first game against Åland drawing 2–2. ^[3] 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. ^{[4] [5]} 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 Ryan Moore scoring for Sealand. The team was captained by former Bolton Wanderers defender Simon Charlton and actor Ralf Little. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Sealand played an away game against Alderney on 25 August 2012. ^[8] 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. ^[9]

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. ^[10]

Sealand has not been a member of a confederation since the N.F.-Board became defunct. An application to join CONIFA was rejected. ^[11]

Overall record

Opponent	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	% Won	% Drawn	% Lost
Åland	1	0	1	0	2	2	0%	100%	0%
Alderney	3	2	1	0	5	3	66.7%	33.33%	0%
Chagos Islands	3	1	1	1	6	6	33.33%	33.33%	33.33%
Raetia	1	1	0	0	6	1	100%	0%	0%
Seborga	1	1	0	0	3	2	100%	0%	0%
Somaliland	1	0	1	0	2	2	0%	100%	0%
Tamil Eelam	1	0	0	1	3	5	0%	0%	100%
Occitania	1	0	0	1	0	8	0%	0%	100%
Total	12	5	4	3	56	37	41.67%

*Includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

B team record

Opponent	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	% Won	% Drawn	% Lost
Panjab	1	0	0	1	1	4	0%	0%	100%
Total	1	0	0	1	1	4	0%	0%	100%

*Includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

International results and upcoming fixtures

Åland   v   Sealand

15 May 2004

Åland

2–2

Sealand

Åland, Finland

Sealand   v   Chagos Islands

5 May 2012

Sealand

1–3

Chagos Islands

Godalming, England

Alderney   v   Sealand

25 August 2012

Alderney

1–1 (4–5 p)

Sealand

Saint Anne, Alderney

Sealand   v   Alderney

8 March 2013

Sealand

2–1

Alderney

Godalming, England

Sealand   v   Tamil Eelam

4 July 2013

Sealand

3–5

Tamil Eelam

St John's, Isle of Man

Occitania   v   Sealand

5 July 2013

Occitania

8–0

Sealand

St John's, Isle of Man

Sealand   v   Alderney

7 July 2013

Sealand

2–1

Alderney

St John's, Isle of Man

Sealand   v   Chagos Islands

23 February 2014

Sealand

4–2

Chagos Islands

Godalming, England

Chagos Islands   v   Sealand

5 May 2014

Chagos Islands

1–1 (4–3 p)

Sealand

Crawley, England

Somaliland   v   Sealand

17 May 2014

Somaliland

2–2

Sealand

London, England

Raetia   v   Sealand

9 August 2014

Raetia

1–6

Sealand

Chur, Switzerland

Seborga v   Sealand

10 August 2014

Seborga

2–3

Sealand

Ospedaletti, Italy

Panjab   v   Sealand B

22 December 2014

Panjab

4–1

Sealand B

Smethwick, England

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 [12] [13] [14]		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. ^[15]

For the Tynwald Tournament, 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.

See also

• Sport in the Principality of Sealand

References

1. Sealand: The national football team from a country half the size of a football pitch Archived 2023-04-19 at the Wayback Machine The Athletic. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
2. "Tony Incenzo And His Experience Watching Sealand". 888sport.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
3. "IBWM Fantasy football micronation style". IBWM. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
4. "FANTASY FOOTBALL MICRONATION STYLE". inbedwithmaradona.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
5. "Sealand FC: The Most Unlikely Story In International Football". 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
6. "Ralf Little gets an international cap for Sealand". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 May 2012. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
7. Taylor, Amy (11 May 2012). "Sealand and Chagos Islands play out football history". Surrey Today. Archived from the original on 20 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
8. "Sealand vs Alderney football result". Archived from the original on 2013-01-15.
9. "Sealand shock Chagos Islands with record win". Non-FIFA FootballUpdates. Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
10. "Sealand deny Seborga comeback in Ospedaletti". Sanremonews. Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
11. Engel, Matthew (1 June 2018). "World Football Cup an alternative to Fifa and a lesson in geopolitics". Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019– via www.theguardian.com.
12. "I Went to an International Football Match Between Two Non-Countries". vice.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
13. "Micronation prepares for Island tournament". manxradio.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
14. "Sealand and Chagos Islands play out football history". getsurrey.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
15. "Sealand's Blog". www.sealandgov.org. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.