Full name | Football Club Isle of Man |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Ravens |
Founded | 2019 |
Ground | The Bowl, Douglas |
Capacity | 3,000 |
Owner | Sporting Club Isle of Man |
Chairman | Gill Christian |
Manager | Chris Bass |
League | North West Counties League Division One South |
2021–22 | North West Counties League Division One South, 2nd of 20 (promoted via play-offs) |
Website | Club website |
Football Club Isle of Man (Manx: Club Sockyr Ellan Vannin)[1] is a semi-professional football club based in Douglas, Isle of Man, that competes in the North West Counties League Division One South, the 10th tier of English football.
Founded in 2019, the club joined the NWCFL for the 2020–21 season; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they did not start the 2020–21 season, which was ultimately abandoned on 24 February 2021. They played their inaugural match at their home ground, The Bowl, against Guernsey F.C. in the summer of 2020, competing for the newly formed Skipton Cup; the match ended in a 1–0 victory for F.C. Isle of Man.
F.C. Isle of Man returned to the NWCFL for the start the 2021–22 NWCFL Division One South season. They played their first league game ever against Maine Road on 31 July 2021, which resulted in a 1–1 draw. They subsequently played a further 15 away games in a row before finally playing their first home league game on 30 October 2021, against Brocton, coming from behind to win 2-1 in front of 2,012 supporters.
The Ravens ultimately finished second in the league, narrowly missing out on actual silverware by five points behind West Didsbury & Chorlton, and were placed into the league play-offs with home advantage against three other teams. On 9 April 2022, they played Wythenshawe Amateurs in the play-off semi-final, beating them 3–0 to secure a place in the final against New Mills The Ravens went on to win promotion to the NWCFL Premier Division on the 16 April 2022, defeating New Mills in the play-off final, winning 4-2 in front of a record-braking home attendance of 3,230 supporters.
F.C. Isle of Man covers the costs of visiting clubs and match officials travel and hotel expenses for the games which is a considerable commitment, but also shows the seriousness of the clubs plans to compete in the English league pyramid.[2]
The club is not affiliated with the Isle of Man Government; it is owned by its parent company Sporting Club Isle of Man. A club owned by the local community, funded by purchasing various memberships which offer exclusive benefits, including early ticket sales, discounted prices and a club pin.
History
In August 2019, F.C. Isle of Man confirmed their intentions to enter a team into the English football league system at step six of non-league.[3] On 8 October 2019, the club announced it had become affiliated with the Isle of Man Football Association, following the backing of clubs in the Manx football system.[4] However, there was opposition to the move from some local clubs and supporters over F.C. Isle of Man cherry-picking the best players from teams around the island and other clubs losing out on potential spectators. To ease this concern, F.C. Isle of Man kicks off its games in the later time slot of 18:30 to avoid any potential clash with the local league, which consists of 26 teams.
On 18 February 2020, St Georges manager Chris Bass was announced as the club's first manager.[5]
On 21 February 2020, the North West Counties Football League confirmed F.C. Isle of Man had submitted an application to join the league in time for the 2020–21 season.[6]
On 21 July 2020, it was announced that the club would participate in the North West Counties Football League First Division South.[7] Due to the COVID–19 restrictions, the team withdrew from the 2020–21 FA Vase before their first qualifying round match. On 7 December, the club was temporarily suspended from the league as it had become apparent that they would not be able to complete all their fixtures by 31 May 2021, as required by The Football Association.[8]
F.C. Isle of Man played their first competitive league match against Maine Road F.C. on 31 July 2021, with Frank Jones scoring the club's first competitive goal. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.[9] Their first season ended in success as despite a second-placed finish, a 4–2 victory over Wythenshawe Amateurs on 16 April 2022, saw the club promoted to the ninth tier of English football through the play-offs.[10]
Colours and crest
F.C. Isle of Man play their home games in a red, white and black strip, and their away games in blue and white.[citation needed]
In July 2020, the club asked supporters to vote via social media on three different kit options.[11] After a 10-day voting period, option one was the favourite choice of the official supporters, garnering 55% of the vote.[12] Hope & Glory was announced as the club's kit manufacturer.[citation needed]
On 27 February, F.C. Isle of Man unveiled their club crest, stating "In line with the philosophy of our parent company Sporting Club Isle of Man, the crest has been carefully crafted to not only reflect the essence of our Island's history, colours and community but also, importantly, to represent our confident sporting approach." Featuring a black raven in an attack posture, one of the island's national birds, synonymous to the Celts and Vikings with battle, intelligence and problem solving. The crest also includes red and white colours, which represent the island's sunsets and Manannán's cloak. The four water lines to represent the four sides of the Island, symbolising unity and community.[citation needed]
The clubs motto, "Bee ny Share" also features on the clubs crest and sleeve of the shirt, which is Manx for "Be Better".
The crest did not include the triskelion of the Island's national flag and coat of arms, which surprised many.[citation needed] However the three legs do appear of the back of the shirt.[citation needed] In a tweet sporting director Paul Jones stated, "It was in one of the earlier designs but we felt the 3-legs should be for National teams as it’s sooo associated with the IOM. We also wanted to do things differently and reflect other parts of our heritage - to challenge the norm."[citation needed]
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
The club signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Manx Telecom, a local telecoms provider.[13] Manx Telecom's IT infrastructure and managed services subsidiary Synapse 360 will appear on the away shirts.[citation needed] On 30 July 2020, F.C. Isle of Man announced a three-year deal with Rex Motor Company to become the team's first sleeve sponsor.[14]
Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor (chest) | Shirt sponsor (sleeve) |
---|---|---|---|
2020– | Hope & Glory | Manx Telecom/ Synapse 360 (away) | Rex Motor Company |
Mascot
The official mascot of F.C. Isle of Man is a generic bear, which is of uncertain origin and is trotted out at various sporting events around the Island. For a team nicknamed the Ravens, a group of supporters deemed a bear to be a wholly inappropriate mascot and thus the unofficial mascot, Raymond P Raven was born. Attending every home game, and even travelling away to AFC Darwen on 2nd May 2022, Raymond has become a firm fan favourite, and is widely considered to be one of the top three Raven-shaped mascots in Manx sport. "Raymond is a Raven, Everywhere he goes" can be followed on twitter @RaymondPRaven.
Stadium
The club play at The Bowl in Douglas, a 3,000-seater stadium nicknamed "The Bernabowl" in reference to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. The Bowl has been the club's home ground since July 2020.[citation needed]
Players
First-team squad
As of 11 April 2022[15]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club captains
Since the establishment of the club in 2019, several players have been club captain for F.C. Isle of Man.[citation needed] Frank Jones became the first captain of the club, but after an injury sustained during their first ever league match against Maine Road F.C. in which Jones scored the opening goal, Jack McVey and Chris Bass Jr were called upon to briefly act as captain, before the club settled on top goalscorer Sean Doyle in 2022.[citation needed]
Name | Period |
---|---|
Frank Jones | 2020–2021 |
Jack McVey/ Chris Bass Jr. | 2021–2022 |
Sean Doyle | 2022– |
Officials
Current coaching staff
Position | Name |
---|---|
Manager | Chris Bass |
Assistant manager | Lee Dixon |
Coach | |
Goalkeeping coach | |
Physiotherapist | Ian Kelly |
Managerial statistics, to 16 June 2020
Manager | From | To | P | W | D | L | W% | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Bass | 18 February 2020 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 6 | 77.27 |
Honours
League
North West Counties League Division One South (Level 10, Step 6)
- Play-off winners : 2021–22
Cup
North West Counties Division One Challenge (Edward Case) Cup
- Winners in 2021-22 (1-0)[16]
Skipton Cup
- 2nd in 2020–21 (1-1 P5-4)
League awards
North West Counties League Division One South club of the month award
- September 2021[17]
Records
- Highest victory: 10–2, against St Martins F.C. (2 November 2021)
- Home attendance: 3,230, against New Mills A.F.C. (16 April 2022)
- Goals (total): 41, by Sean Doyle[18]
- Goals (season): 41, by Sean Doyle
Ownership and finances
F.C. Isle of Man is owned by parent company Sporting Club Isle of Man, a club owned by the local community, through purchasing various memberships.[citation needed] Rajan Nandha is the club's finance director.[citation needed]
In the media
- F.C. Isle of Man featured in an article for The Athletic titled "The Isle of Man: English football's final frontier"[19]
- F.C. Isle of Man featured on BBC's Football Focus, which aired on 26 March 2022.[20]
- F.C. Isle of Man featured in FourFourTwo Magazine twice, the first time in the January 2020 edition and then again in the January 2022 edition.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "English to Manx". mannin.info.
- ^ Besford, Tom. "Meet our new Clubs - FC Isle of Man". nwcfl.com. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "FC Isle of Man announce plans for new club". Manx Radio. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "FC Isle of Man has been affiliated to the Isle of Man FA". F.C. Isle of Man. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "FC Isle of Man Appoint Chris Bass as Team Manager". F.C. Isle of Man. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "11 clubs have applied for promotion to Step 6 for 2020/21". North West Counties Football League. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ Fallon, Martin. "League Statement". nwcfl.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "FC Isle of Man temporarily suspended from NWCFL due to Covid-19 restrictions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "Not just another day - A review of our first ever league matchday". FC Isle of Man. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ^ "FC Isle of Man promoted after historic play-off final victory". Manx Radio. 16 April 2022.
- ^ "FC Isle of Man allow fans to vote on three kit options". Fan Banter. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "Inaugural FC Isle of Man kit unveiled | iomtoday.co.im". Isle of Man Today. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "New backing for FC Isle of Man". Isle of Man Today. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "FC Isle of Man Announces Shirt Sleeve Sponsor in Rex Motor Company". FC Isle of Man. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "Playing Squad". FC Isle of Man. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "FC IoM beat Cammell Laird to win First Division Challenge Cup". Manx Radio. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
- ^ Langley, Gary. "FC Isle of Man Award Presentation". nwcfl.com. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "NWCFL | Player Tables". nwcfl.com. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ Hughes, Simon. "The Isle of Man: English football's final frontier". The Athletic. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
- ^ "FC IoM to feature on Football Focus this weekend". Manx Radio. Retrieved 12 April 2022.