Sark football team
The Sark football team represented the Channel Island of Sark in football.[1]
| 2003 | ||
|---|---|---|
.svg.png.webp) | ||
| Association | Sark FC | |
| ||
| First international | ||
 Gibraltar 19–0 Sark  (Saint Martin, Guernsey; 29 June 2003) | ||
| Last international | ||
 Frøya 15–0 Sark (Saint Anne, Alderney; 3 July 2003) | ||
| Biggest win | ||
| None | ||
| Biggest defeat | ||
Sark 0–20 Isle of Wight  (Saint Martin, Guernsey; 30 June 2003) | ||
The official team for the island of Sark, Sark FC, was created at the beginning of 2001.[2][3][4] The club appears to have folded in 2018.
Football was first played on Sark in the 1950s, with islanders typically playing friendlies against visiting ships' crew members and seasonal staff coming to work in the summer. It was not until 2001 that an official football team, Sark FC, was created. Having joined the Guernsey FA, Sark FC played in the GFA Cup for three years and regularly played against social club teams from Guernsey.
However, Sark's footballing community wanted more competitive matches and entered a football team for the 2003 Island Games. With a population of just 600, Sark were seen as outsiders against the likes of Greenland, which boasts 55,000 inhabitants, and Guernsey with a population 65,000. Sark's first match in the tournament resulted in a 19–0 loss to Gibraltar.
For the three matches that followed, Sark were badly affected by injuries, on top of their inexperience and the lack of fitness in a squad that included some players aged in their 50s. Following the defeat against Gibraltar, Sark lost 20–0 to the Isle of Wight, 16–0 to Greenland, and 15–0 to Frøya, a small Norwegian island of 4,000 people. In all, Sark conceded 70 goals and scored none.
Sark has not competed in the Island Games football tournament since the 2003 tournament and is no longer part of the Guernsey Football Association.
International matches
Sark competed in the 2003 Island Games, in which the team lost all four matches by at least 15 goals, with a record of no goals scored and 70 conceded.[2] This made Sark the first team to fail to score a single goal in an Island Games tournament.[5]
All matches played at the 2003 Island Games: Sark’s score is listed first
| Date | Round | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 June 2003 | Group stage | Gibraltar | 0–19 |
| 30 June 2003 | Isle of Wight | 0–20 | |
| 1 July 2003 |  Greenland | 0–16 | |
| 3 July 2003 | 13th-place match | Frøya | 0–15 |
Coaching history
- Chris Drillot (2001–2002)
- Shane Moon (2002–2003)
- Simon Elmont (2003–2007)
- Matt Joyner (2007–2011)
- Neil Williams (2011–2013)
- Gary Hamon (2013–2015)
- Neil Williams (2015–2018)
References
- "YouTubers challenge Sark in football". bbc.co.uk. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- "SARK FC – THE WORST TEAM IN THE WORLD?". footballpink.net. The Football Pink. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- "SARK – (MORE THAN) THE 2003 ISLAND GAMES AND ALL THAT". archive.ph. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- "SARK FOOTBALL CLUB: A COMPENDIUM OF RESULTS". archive.ph. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- Tony Incenzo (11 July 2003). "Sark stranded". thefa.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008.