Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

– commonly known as football (or soccer in the United States and Canada) – is a popular sport in the British Virgin Islands. The

British Virgin Islands Football Association The British Virgin Islands Football Association is the governing body of football in the British Virgin Islands.The Association is also responsible for the British Virgin Islands national football team. Association staff Competitions The BV ...

– the territory's football governing body – organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the territory's professional league the

BVIFA National Football League The BVIFA National Football League is the highest competitive football league in the British Virgin Islands. The league was founded in 2009 after the merger between the Tortola League and the Virgin Gorda League. In 2012 the league decided to sp ...

. As members of Caribbean Football Union teams are eligible for the

Caribbean Club Championship The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). T ...

and the territory's membership in

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...

allows teams to participate in that organizations club and national team competitions. The British Virgin Island are also a member of FIFA and is therefore eligible to play in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. The national teams also compete in the

Virgin Islands Championship UK & US Virgin Islands League is an association football competition organized by the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. It is played by two islands official team of each nation. Virgin Islands Championship teams *Saint Croix officia ...

against the

US Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

History

The

was founded and became full members of

and FIFA in 1974. The Association traces formal football to a three team league formed by Royal Engineers and expatriates who were expanding Beef Island Airport. The men's national team won the

Leeward Islands Tournament The Leeward Islands Football Association (LIFA) was formed in 1949. Of the early tournaments only the winners are known; for the recent ones, the structure is largely unknown. It is also not known whether tournaments were staged in the missing y ...

in 1986.

League system

The territory's association administers the highest competitive football league in the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = " Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Bri ...

, the

. The league was founded in 2009 after the merger between the leagues of the territory's two most populous islands, the

Tortola League The Tortola League was a regional association football league played in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. The winner of the league was declared as the overall champion of the country. In 2009, the league disbanded after the merger with the Virgin Go ...

and the

Virgin Gorda League The Virgin Gorda League was a regional association football league played in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands. In 2009 the league disbanded after the merger with the Tortola League to create a new top league, the BVIFA National League. Previ ...

. The league's most successful team is Islanders FC with eight league championships. In 2012 the league decided to split the teams into two groups, based on the position they finished in the standings at the end of the 2011-12 season.

References

{{League systems Football in the British Virgin Islands