Rivalry between counties is almost as fierce as national rivalry and this is certainly the case with Shetland and Orkney, although the rivalry is tempered with mutual respect, as we both know the common issues we face as an isolated island group.
By John Ward (Shetland Women’s FC Development Coach)
Shetland Women’s FC was formed in 2004 to participate in the 2005 NatWest Island Games which were being hosted here in Shetland, prior to this there was no female only football played in either island. Any girls or women wanting to play had to play in the boys’ or men’s teams. 
Although Shetland didn’t do very well in the Island Games, played 5, won 0, drew 1 and lost 4, the enthusiasm for the football was still very much there. A local league was formed, attracting 5 teams at its peak, cup competitions were arranged and the Shetland team entered the early rounds of the Scottish Cup, with some contrasting results, once beating Dunfermline and another time getting beat 22-0 by Hibernian Ladies. There was even talk of entering a team in the Scottish Second Division North.
As the years progressed, one of the local teams grew the strongest, attracting the best players and winning everything, this is when participation in women’s football in Shetland started to decline as the less able players realised that unless they could get involved with the best team, they would have no chance of winning anything and most drifted away to other sports. The Island Games left a legacy of a decent sporting infrastructure and there was plenty of sporting opportunities, so constantly being on the loosing side at football soon lost it’s appeal.
Just now there is no league football being played and the only ‘team’ as such is the County team, which is more or less the same as Orkney’s setup. In an effort to provide some diversity I have organised trips to a Women’s Football Tournament in Gramsbergen, Netherlands, We first went in 2009 and had such a good time we went back in 2011 and 2012. We currently have to travel off the Island to get a game against other women’s teams, this involves a 12 hour ferry journey to Aberdeen and onward travel from there, usually we leave Friday 5pm and arrive back Monday 7:30am, not ideal for those with children, or those at school – which is the majority of our team, so we don’t get away very often.
We have twice taken part in a new SFA Highlands & Islands Women’s Football Tournaments held in Ross County’s Highland Football Academy in Dingwall. This featured teams from Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles, Caithness and Inverness and was played as a round robin tournament. Our aim for next year is to participate in the 2015 NatWest Island Games in Jersey, our first games since it all began for us in 2005.
Shetland 2014 team, back row left to right: Sarah Couper, Alison Ramsay, Rhea Nicolson, Stacey Laurenson, Abbey Irvine, Caroline Watt, Dion McCusker, John Ward (Coach). Front row left to right: Aleisha Devine, Jade Harvey, Maria Simpson, Toni Sidgwick, Karen Jarvie ©, Kristan Robertson, Rheo Laurenson
The annual Intercounty between Shetland and Orkney is always a very keenly contested fixture, irrespective of what sport, so it was inevitable that there was going to be a Ladies Football Intercounty arranged and the format is that the game is played in Shetland one year and Orkney the next, with the first being played in Shetland in 2006 for the Mitchell Shield. There is also the social side to the fixture, which, although loosing ‘da Coonty’ is as bad as it gets for some, is just as important as the match itself. As Shetland were a couple of years ahead of Orkney in terms of football development, the first few years were difficult for Orkney, suffering quite a few heavy defeats but this last few years the gap has been narrowing, which gives them hope that they will overtake us one year, For future years we hope to develop an U-18 team.
To find out what happened in this year’s Mitchell Shield, be sure to check the forthcoming issue of She Kicks (Issue 23).
(Action photos by Orkney Sports)
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
