Shetland football team

Shetland

Nickname(s)	The Shelties, The Blues
Association	Shetland Football Association
Head coach	Neil Fenwick
Captain	Erik Peterson
Home stadium	Gilbertson Park, Lerwick, Shetland
First colours Second colours
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)

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]

Venues

Shetland 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

Beginning 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

Match: Final

Shetland Islands 2 (0) V 0 (0) Guernsey

Time: 16:00 Date: Friday 15 July 2005 Venue: Gilbertson Park

Group 1 matches

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

This 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

• Duncan Bray - inducted in University of Southern Indiana Athletic Hall of Fame ^[7]

Tournament records

Island Games record

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

1. Not held football tournament (Replaced by 2019 Inter Games Football Tournament in Anglesey).

North Atlantic Cup

Note: 2 points for a win era.

Year [8]	Position	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1968–1973	2nd	8	3	1	4	18	21	-3	7

Milne Cup

Including Kirkwall vs. Lerwick

Location [9]	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1908–2020	57	6	39	230	184	46

• 61 Milne Cup wins

Mitchell and Sutherland Shields

Source: ^[10]

Mitchell Shield

Location	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
2006–2014	9	0	0	59	10	49

• 9 Mitchell shields wins

Sutherland Shield

Location	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
2007, 2008, 2011	2	0	1	21	9	12

• 2 Sutherland Shield wins

Selected International opponents

Last update: 26 July 2009

Opponents	Matches	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Win%
Åland	4	1	0	3	5	8	−3	025.00
Falkland Islands	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Faroe Islands	24	6	2	16	37	66	−29	025.00
Frøya	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Gibraltar	4	3	0	1	6	5	+1	075.00
Greenland	3	1	0	2	9	7	+2	033.33
Guernsey	3	2	0	1	9	7	+2	066.67
Hitra Municipality	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4	100.00
Isle of Man	4	1	1	2	5	9	−4	025.00
Isle of Wight	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Jersey	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	000.00
Menorca	1	0	1	0	2	2	+0	000.00
Orkney	86	50	4	32	207	156	+51	058.14
Saare County	3	2	1	0	6	4	+2	066.67
Western Isles	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	000.00
Ynys Môn	4	0	1	3	2	10	−8	000.00

Honours

Non-FIFA competitions

• Island Games:
  • Gold medal: 2005

Others titles

• North Caledonian F.A.
  • Jock Mackay Cup:
    • Winners: 2014–15

References

1. "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.
2. "Football and hockey teams get ready to entertain Orkney rivals". The Shetland Times. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
3. 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.
4. "Shetland Squad : Shetland Football". www.shetlandfootball.co.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
5. When Shetland met Faroe and the real romance of the cup
6. "Milne Cup 2023". www.shetlandtimes.co.uk. 16 September 2023.
7. "Bray in US university hall of fame". shetlandtimes.co.uk. 10 January 2014.
8. "North Atlantic Cup 1968-1973". RSSSF . Retrieved 4 July 2021.
9. "Milne Cup". RSSSF . Retrieved 4 July 2021.
10. "Mitchell and Sutherland Shields". RSSSF . Retrieved 4 July 2021.

External links

• Shetland matches on Roon ba
• Shetlopedia entry on Shetland team
• Official Shetland FA Page