Elsewhere In Football #4

Unchartered Football

The goal of this project is simple.

“Develop football in unchartered countries across the world”

However the execution will be anything but simple. The project is already globally recognized with articles published in Forbes, World Soccer magazine, BBC and mentions on talksport and the sweeper podcast to name but a few. This coupled with ex professional footballers involvement as ambassadors and the curiosity and excitement from football fans all over the world, Uncharted Football are gearing up for a massive year.

A year spent running into walls….

Since the announcement early last year that I was to become the head coach of Nauru I've been excited about the prospect of getting to the island to implement the beginning of a football legacy. Unfortunately we've been unable to get me on the island.. Yet! There are several reasons for this ranging from cancelled flights & visa complications to funding issues & and the loss of some key personnel. Everytime the team has managed to meet online and put together a plan something has happened that means the plan needs to change. Every meeting has been creating a new plan instead of anyone being able to make progress on any tasks. It's been incredibly frustrating for all involved and for many (myself included) spent a lot of last year disillusioned by the Nauru project and wondering whether we could ever get it off the ground.

Finally there is movement…..

Despite the issues we faced we have managed to tick off some boxes and progress has been made on the island itself.

First and foremost we revealed our national team jersey which was designed by Earnie and the Stingz team. I cannot praise that man enough. He is a true gentleman, a talented designer and football mad lunatic like myself. Young Pioneer Tours and Giordano also became official sponsors for the project both providing us with both financial and marketing contributions.

This was followed up by our entry to the Unofficial World Cup 2026. This is an ambitious project that will involve 16 nations either not recognized by FIFA or to small to compete. They include countries like ourselves, Kiribati and Vatican City.

Later in the year we put together a small team on the island to begin introducing football to the natives. Training sessions have taken place and pick up games against expats are also being played.

Big plans require funding…

Over the next 18 months we expect to

• Deliver equipment and resources to the island

• Host training camps with foreign coaches to help develop local coaches.

• Play international friendlies with Kiribati & The Marshall Islands

• Implement training programs into local schools.

These are ambitious targets to say the least and without boosts in funding it's going to be difficult to hit all of those. For me the most important things are getting equipment to the island to improve the quality of training already happening and the implementation of the schools programs is vital to any long term goals the project has.

Expanding our reach and influence….

Earlier in the month we announced that we would be taking over the Kiribati project at well and working alongside a very ambitious football federation. My role with Nauru naturally morphed into a technical directors role whereas the Kiribati project will be a chance for me to get on the field coaching. Stingz have delivered an amazing kit and we have Perry Groves on the project as ambassador.

The island of Tuvulu is also on the radar and developments are underway in taking on this project as well.

What's coming next…..

I am delighted to be involved these projects and I really hope we can have a successful year. Unfortunately I have just taken on a new coaching role, my club is cambodia is still sitting dormant and I'm also in negotiations with a few projects across Thailand, India and back in the UK that could mean a very busy year and a lot of time spent on airplanes. The bottom line for me is I'm back coaching and doing what I love.