Download - Somaliland football team at The Valley
7242019 Somaliland football team at The Valley
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullsomaliland-football-team-at-the-valley 12
Having once staged a
tournament featuring the
Republic of Ireland Nigeria and
Jamaica The Valley is no
stranger to internaonal fixtures
But last May with minimum fuss
or fanfare the stadium played
host to an internaonal match
with a difference
Just a few hundred fans were
present when a Somaliland team
ran out of the tunnel to face
Tamil Eelam although thatrsquoshardly surprising given The
Valley can hold more people
than live in any Somaliland city
bar the six most populated
But the match was hugely
significant more than 4500 miles
away where enre communies
rely on food donaons bought
with money raised by the match
in SE7 and other acvies
The fixture was organised by
the Not4Goen Foundaon It
has created and manages the
naonal football side of
Somaliland a country in East
Africa with a populaon of
around 35m
The teams are two of the 28
members of the Confederaonof Independent Football
Associaons (CONIFA) an
associaon for independent
states unaffiliated with FIFA
Other members include Monaco
Zanzibar and Darfur
The match at The Valley was
staged to mark Somalilands 24th
anniversary ldquoto celebrate 24
years of peace prosperity and
developmentrdquo since the north‐
western territories of Somalia
declared independenceldquoWe started to do some small
fundraising in 2011rdquo said Ilyas
Mohamed 31 from Toenham
ldquoI came to the UK as a ten‐year‐
old and didnrsquot return to
Somaliland unl aer I finished
university
ldquoI was away for a long me
and obviously I was very young
when I le so I didnrsquot fully
appreciate what was happening
but I was gobsmacked by the
living condions and how poverty
affects people People struggled
even to get food to eat every day
ldquoIrsquove been coaching young
people in North London since I
le school and I thought I could
use football to raise some moneyand highlight this issue to others
parcularly those who have
emigrated to the UK and who are
now working and can afford to
give something back to those
less well‐offrdquo
From raising pound100 and pound200 at
first the movement quickly
gathered pace and the aims
expanded to using sport to unite
the Somaliland community in the
UK
ldquoEven though we started byonly raising small sums they
were sll significant because it
bought a lot of foodrdquo explained
Ilyas ldquoWe make sure the money
is used to buy food to distribute
rather than handing out money
itself which could be used for
other things
ldquoSomaliland is a ny state
There was a severe famine this
year and there is lile
internaonal trade and very few
32
MATT WRIGHT discloses an
an unreported internaonal
fixture held at The Valley at
the end of last season
Winning side the Somaliland squad celebrate their victory ndash and raising funds for food back in Africa
Charity begins at home
p32-33 somaliland_VOTV 09092015 2354 Page 1
7242019 Somaliland football team at The Valley
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullsomaliland-football-team-at-the-valley 22
jobs If there was the
opportunity to work and for
people to be able to feed their
families they wouldnrsquot have to
rely on others and handouts
ldquoThe administraon tries to
do its best but they donrsquot have
the capability to deliver and
inevitably the people at the
boom suffer the mostrdquo
He added ldquoIn 2014 we
decided to formalise our work
and establish a foundaon that
would also help young people in
the UK by mentoring them and
helping them get into
employment and overcomesocial issues using footballrdquo
Around 5000 people aended
Somalilandrsquos biggest fixture so
far at Barnetrsquos Underhill stadium
in 2013 when Somaliland vice‐
president HE Abdirahman
Abdillahi Ismail ldquoSaylicirdquo was
among the officials present
Their latest match was staged
at The Valley aer Mohamed
purchased access to the pitch as
part of the clubrsquos regular pitch‐
hire bookings aer the end of theseason and seemingly took place
unacknowledged by the club
ldquoWe tried to play at The Valley
the previous yearrdquo said
Mohamed ldquoWe spoke to
someone at Borehamwood FC
and they suggested The Valley
but when I called up
unfortunately they were full I
kept the details and tried again
this yearrdquo
CONIFA put Somaliland in
touch with the naonal team of
Tamil Eelam a proposed
independent state in the north
and east of Sri Lanka and the
match was arranged for May
17th Whatrsquos more Charlton and
The Valley were publicised on
primeme in Somaliland thanksto a programme about the game
broadcast by Horn Cable TV
ldquoThe facilies and the pitch
were brilliantrdquo said Ilyas ldquoThe
pitch was the best wersquove played
on Quite a lot of the team are
Arsenal fans and even they were
impressed going into the
changing rooms and appreciang
the football history behind itrdquo
Even though Tamil Eelam were
ranked 54th in the world in the
non‐FIFA rankings in 2012 theywere comprehensively outplayed
by Somaliland who cruised to an
impressive 5‐0 victory and now
have set their sights on new
opponents ndash at home and abroad
ldquoOur team comes from across
the UK and although the
majority of the squad are
ethnically Somali we do also
have players who are of mixed
heritagerdquo said Ilyas
ldquoThere are guys from
Sheffield Cardiff Bristol and
Coventry and many are players
who have been on the books of
the likes of Brenord and
Blackburn so itrsquos of a good
quality We do things properly
we pay for their travel and
accommodaon and now wersquorein the process of incorporang
players from the diaspora
ldquoThere are a few who play
professional football in other
European leagues and while
they obviously canrsquot play for us
at the moment theyrsquore coming
to the end of their careers and
theyrsquove said theyrsquore happy to
play thenrdquo
The teamrsquos next target is a
tournament in Abkhazia a
disputed territory to the north of Georgia illustrang how the
ambions of the foundaon have
grown in a short space of me
Mohamed said ldquoIt started as
a small event to raise a bit of
money to get some food for
people and wersquore sll doing
that but now there is a broader
message about how Somaliland
is part of the global community
and raising awareness of issues
through expressing ourselves on
a football pitchldquoWe enjoyed being involved
with Charlton and the hospitality
extended to us Wersquore really
keen to connue our relaonship
in the near futurerdquo
983153 For more details on the
Somaliland naonal team and
the Not4Goen Foundaon see
wwwnot4goenfoundaoncom
Showing the flag Somaliland
fans in The Valleyrsquos west stand
Providing the opposion Tamil
Eelam line up before kick‐off
33
p32-33 somaliland_VOTV 09092015 2354 Page 2
7242019 Somaliland football team at The Valley
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullsomaliland-football-team-at-the-valley 22
jobs If there was the
opportunity to work and for
people to be able to feed their
families they wouldnrsquot have to
rely on others and handouts
ldquoThe administraon tries to
do its best but they donrsquot have
the capability to deliver and
inevitably the people at the
boom suffer the mostrdquo
He added ldquoIn 2014 we
decided to formalise our work
and establish a foundaon that
would also help young people in
the UK by mentoring them and
helping them get into
employment and overcomesocial issues using footballrdquo
Around 5000 people aended
Somalilandrsquos biggest fixture so
far at Barnetrsquos Underhill stadium
in 2013 when Somaliland vice‐
president HE Abdirahman
Abdillahi Ismail ldquoSaylicirdquo was
among the officials present
Their latest match was staged
at The Valley aer Mohamed
purchased access to the pitch as
part of the clubrsquos regular pitch‐
hire bookings aer the end of theseason and seemingly took place
unacknowledged by the club
ldquoWe tried to play at The Valley
the previous yearrdquo said
Mohamed ldquoWe spoke to
someone at Borehamwood FC
and they suggested The Valley
but when I called up
unfortunately they were full I
kept the details and tried again
this yearrdquo
CONIFA put Somaliland in
touch with the naonal team of
Tamil Eelam a proposed
independent state in the north
and east of Sri Lanka and the
match was arranged for May
17th Whatrsquos more Charlton and
The Valley were publicised on
primeme in Somaliland thanksto a programme about the game
broadcast by Horn Cable TV
ldquoThe facilies and the pitch
were brilliantrdquo said Ilyas ldquoThe
pitch was the best wersquove played
on Quite a lot of the team are
Arsenal fans and even they were
impressed going into the
changing rooms and appreciang
the football history behind itrdquo
Even though Tamil Eelam were
ranked 54th in the world in the
non‐FIFA rankings in 2012 theywere comprehensively outplayed
by Somaliland who cruised to an
impressive 5‐0 victory and now
have set their sights on new
opponents ndash at home and abroad
ldquoOur team comes from across
the UK and although the
majority of the squad are
ethnically Somali we do also
have players who are of mixed
heritagerdquo said Ilyas
ldquoThere are guys from
Sheffield Cardiff Bristol and
Coventry and many are players
who have been on the books of
the likes of Brenord and
Blackburn so itrsquos of a good
quality We do things properly
we pay for their travel and
accommodaon and now wersquorein the process of incorporang
players from the diaspora
ldquoThere are a few who play
professional football in other
European leagues and while
they obviously canrsquot play for us
at the moment theyrsquore coming
to the end of their careers and
theyrsquove said theyrsquore happy to
play thenrdquo
The teamrsquos next target is a
tournament in Abkhazia a
disputed territory to the north of Georgia illustrang how the
ambions of the foundaon have
grown in a short space of me
Mohamed said ldquoIt started as
a small event to raise a bit of
money to get some food for
people and wersquore sll doing
that but now there is a broader
message about how Somaliland
is part of the global community
and raising awareness of issues
through expressing ourselves on
a football pitchldquoWe enjoyed being involved
with Charlton and the hospitality
extended to us Wersquore really
keen to connue our relaonship
in the near futurerdquo
983153 For more details on the
Somaliland naonal team and
the Not4Goen Foundaon see
wwwnot4goenfoundaoncom
Showing the flag Somaliland
fans in The Valleyrsquos west stand
Providing the opposion Tamil
Eelam line up before kick‐off
33
p32-33 somaliland_VOTV 09092015 2354 Page 2