Ipswich Town’s Brett Pitman has told BBC Sport that he wants to play international football for Jersey.
Jersey, which is part of the Channel Islands, has recently been trying to become a full member of UEFA so it can field a national team in Euro qualifications. However its application was refused and they didn’t even allow their full members to discuss the proposition, leading the Jersey FA to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And in further news, it was revealed that talks between the Jersey FA and UEFA have been postponed.
And Pitman has backed Jersey’s attempts to join UEFA, who have recently let in Gibraltar and Kosovo, by saying that he would love to play for them should they be accepted. Pitman was raised on the island and played football there, most notably for the league champions St Pauls, before moving to the mainland to play for Bournemouth’s academy. The other EFL player who could potentially play for Jersey is Rochdale’s Peter Vincenti.
Pitman said: “If Jersey can do it, it’s something I would want to do,”
“I’d want to come and play for Jersey for sure, if that was possible.”
“If they’re going to do it, it’s something they’ve got to do properly, you can’t do it half-heartedly,”
“You’ve got to do it as properly and professionally as possible if you’re going to be competing against international teams because I don’t think there are any weak teams at that level.”
Politically, Jersey is a Crown Dependency of the UK but competes as itself in the Commonwealth Games and World Cricket League.
