The Isles of Scilly Football League is the official football league for the Isles of Scilly. The football league is the smallest in the world, with only two clubs. The league is affiliated with

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

History

In the 1920s, the Lyonnesse Inter-Island Cup, a competition between the islands of St. Mary's,

Tresco Tresco may refer to: * Tresco, Elizabeth Bay, a historic residence in New South Wales, Australia * Tresco, Isles of Scilly, an island off Cornwall, England, United Kingdom * Tresco, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia * a nickname referring to ...

, St. Martins,

Bryher Bryher ( kw, Breyer "place of hills") is one of the smallest inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly, with a population of 84 in 2011, spread across . History The name of the island is recorded as ''Brayer'' in 1336 and ''Brear'' in 1500. Ge ...

and St. Agnes, was formed. By the 1950s, only two clubs remained—the Rangers and the Rovers. In 1984 the two clubs changed their names to the Garrison Gunners and the Woolpack Wanderers, which are their current names. The League is attempting to get into the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the smallest league in the world. In April 2008, Adidas ran an advertisement called "Dream Big", highlighting the league, featuring several well-known football personnel including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and

Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...

. In 2019 the football league tested Fan Assisted Refeering (FAR) in association with

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Competition structure

The League competition involves the Woolpack Wanderers and the Garrison Gunners playing each other eighteen times, often on a Sunday. There also exist two Cups: The Wholesalers Cup and the Foredeck Cup, which is played over two legs. An "Old Men versus the Youngsters" match is played on Boxing Day. The season itself starts with the Charity Shield. All the matches are played on the Garrison football field, on the island of St. Mary's. The league is played during the winter, from mid-November until the end of March. Occasionally, a combined Isles of Scilly team play Newlyn Non Athletico, a team at level 14 of the English football league system. A team from

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

visits annually to play against a combined team.

Honours

The Woolpack Wanderers have won the Charity Shield 5 times—in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. In addition, they have won the Lioness Shield twice—in 2006 and 2007. The Garrison Gunners have won the Lioness Shield once, in 2005.

Concerns

The Isles of Scilly are struggling to hold on to their young people. There is no

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

on the Isles so when youngsters turn 16, they go to the mainland. In addition, house prices are expensive, so they tend not to return until much older. As a result, the number of players in the league had been dwindling. In 2008 Howard Cole, a secretary who referees the games, estimated the average age of both teams to be within the mid- to late-30s.

Junior League

In 2020, a Junior League was formed, also with only 2 teams: The Trenoweth Trailblazers and the Flying Falcons. The current holders of the league are the Falcons.

References

{{reflist Isles of Scilly Football leagues in Cornwall