The Jersey Football Association (JFA) is the body which co-ordinates football in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

. The Jersey FA acts as a

County football association The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and play ...

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 ...

, although in 2015 it applied to join

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

as a full member. The Jersey Football Combination is overseen by the Jersey FA, as is the

Jersey official football team Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the la ...

History

The Jersey Football Association was founded in 1905 and affiliated itself with The Football Association based in England. This became a practice that the other British Crown Dependencies would follow. Though The FA treat Jersey like a county football board, the JFA run their own league system independent from the English football pyramid. During the

Occupation of the Channel Islands The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are two island countries and British Cr ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the JFA was not permitted to function by the Nazis and their pitches were confiscated. At the Liberation, the JFA organised a celebratory match between local Jerseymen and the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

UEFA application

In 2015, the JFA applied for membership in FIFA and

which would allow them to play against other international teams, independent of England. They opted to choose this route versus creating a club side for the English leagues, as neighbouring Guernsey had done with Guernsey F.C. They based their application on the success of the

Gibraltar Football Association The Gibraltar Football Association or also Gibraltar FA (GFA) is the governing body for Gibraltarian football and futsal. It was formed as the ''Gibraltar Civilian Football Association'' in 1895, changing to its current name in later years. It i ...

in the latter's application for

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

to join UEFA. However, UEFA changed its rules following Gibraltar joining to state that membership would only be granted to independent countries. UEFA rejected JFA's application without presenting it to their congress on those grounds. The JFA took the case against UEFA to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

, which ruled in their favour that UEFA must give the JFA the chance to apply. Though Jersey was initially hopeful, the FA, which Jersey had viewed as a key body, declined to support them. Jersey lost the vote in congress with 49 out of 55 against,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

abstaining and five not registering a vote. Despite losing the vote, the UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said he would be prepared to look into assisting Jersey.

Aftermath

In the aftermath, Jersey player James Scott applied for a Jersey team independent of the JFA to join ConIFA. The application was accepted for the Parishes of Jersey football team to play in ConIFA matches. Also as a result, Jersey Bulls were founded to enter the English football pyramid and were affiliated to the JFA. In 2019, the JFA merged with the Jersey Football Combination, with the JFA taking over the running of league football in Jersey.

Presidents of the Jersey Football Association

References

External links