CORNISH PRIDE
JOHN LYONS REPORTS ON HOW THE SOUTH-WEST COUNTY ARE KEEN TO MAKE A SPLASH IN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL…
Team set to do battle
WE’VE all had that dream of playing international football, haven’t we? But for most of us, it is just that – a dream. The realisation soon dawns that we’re not going to be mixing it with the elite, listening to the anthem with pride overflowing and becoming national heroes. We haven’t got the talent, skill or ability to make it on the international stage.
If only there was another opportunity, another way of making it. We’d grab it with both hands, wouldn’t we?
Well, if you’re from Cornwall, you may just have the chance to make your dreams become reality. Why? Because in November, the newly-formed Kernow (Cornish for ‘Cornwall’) Football Alliance were officially ratified as the newest members of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA), the international governing body for non-FIFA affiliated football associations.
Their aim now is to provide a platform for 11 million Cornish voices on the international football stage, joining more than 50 other CONIFA members across the globe, each with their own distinctive story - from nations, de-facto nations and regions to minority peoples and sports-isolated territories.
It’s not to be sniffed at. Last year’s CONIFA World Football Cup in London attracted plenty of attention as fans flocked to watch matches around the capital.
The idea for Cornish membership was first floated in December 2016 by county native Andrew Bragg, who has followed the project through to the present day, now taking up the Alliance’s director rector of football role.
“The primary reason for me was to get Cornish football on the international stage and make people aware of us,” he said. “We are overlooked ked in Cornwall by professional fessional clubs and don’t have a professional club b of our own. We will pick our players from local leagues and I’ve also spoken to a few of the Cornishmen playing professional football who are also interested. Most definitely all players will have to have been born in Cornwall.
“We will evolve obviously but one of our objectives is to qualify for the 2020 World Cup (which is due to be held in Somaliland, an independent state in the Horn of Africa, which is not recognised by any other country).
“There is a Stadium for Cornwall in the pipeline so I would like to think we could use that in the future.”
Kernow FA chairman Jason Heaton is also convinced that players from the county should have a greater opportunty to showcase their talents to a wider audience.
“Football is my life and my children play football here, too,” he said. “Be
cause of ho how Cornwall is geograph- ically, it’s tough for players to represent the county at a professional level from what is a great football infrastructure, one that the Cornwall FA should be very proud of.
“We can offer something they can’t and it’s something we need. International football in a place that I know and love as a great football family, that is all about people. It’s exactly what Cornwall needs - something for players to look up to, for the good of the game and for the next generation.”
Kernow were set to play a training game shortly before Late Tackle went to press, while they were also hoping to line up a game against Carlsberg South West Peninsula League outfit Bodmin Town in March.
Heaton, for one, has been delighted with the support the Kernow FA have received in their early days. “We’ve been really well received and w we’ve had lots of interest f from players as well as c clubs offering their facilit ties.
“We have to get through t this first year and do things r right here first, but the a aim is to get to the 2020 W World Cup. We shouldn’t b be sitting back - we want t to make things happen. The p potential is amazing.”