Parishes of Jersey

 

Unknown Player
vs. Chagos Islands (9:2) | Atlantic Heritage Cup | 2019 in Yorkshire

 

In 2019, an alternative football governing body to the Jersey FA formed on the Crown Dependency of Jersey to represent the island internationally, including within CONIFA. That setup was required, as the Jersey FA selection does include non-Jerrais players that are playing in the Jersey league, but does exclude Jerrais players that are not playing off the island today - it is a league selection rather than a "national team", really. When Parishes of Jersey formed, it quickly joined CONIFA and tried to qualify for its 2020 World Football Cup, which ultimately never happened, due to COVID.

To qualify, they enrolled in the Atlantic Heritage Cup, a qualification tournament hosted by Yorkshire and also including the Chagos Islands. Jersey won the tournament, despite losing to Yorkshire by conceding in the 90+3's minute, and thus ultimately did qualify. The Parishes of Jersey also hosted the Annual General Meeting of CONIFA in the Jerrais capital of Saint Helier in January, where I was given this shirt as a gift.

Unfortunately, the 2020 World Football Cup never happened, due to the COVID pandemic. In fact, no World Football Cup happened since and the Parishes of Jersey ultimately left CONIFA in 2021 or 2022, due to their discomfort with the way the organisation is run since. Yet, the organisation does still exist and tries to set up tournaments on its own now. If these will ever happen, I will be dressed for the occassion, for sure!