The English Shinty Team is the team selected to represent The English Shinty Association and the sport of

shinty Shinty () is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. It is played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland. The sport was formerly more widespread in Scotland and even played in Northern ...

in England. It has competed at International level against the United States and Alba, and also competes in Scottish cup competitions at club level.

History

The English Shinty Team was formed along with the English Shinty Association in 2013 to represent the association in fixtures. They took on the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

in what was dubbed as the first ever Shinty International at St Andrews in 2013, winning 2–0. Since then, The English Shinty Team have entered the

Bullough Cup The Bullough Cup is a knock-out competition in the sport of shinty. It is played for by reserve-level teams from the South District of Shinty, which includes all of Scotland South of Ballachulish as well as England. All teams playing in South Div ...

annually and played friendly matches when possible as noted below.

Eligibility Criteria

Players are generally considered eligible to play for the ESA team if they are registered with one of the shinty clubs based in England and not playing with any other club at the time. Most of the players are permanently resident in England, but there have been cases of players who have a historical link with England (often by birth or long residency in the country) and are not registered with another club registering and joining the team for matches.

Matches

In popular culture

The song "When you hear the lions' roar" is an ode to the English Shinty Team and makes reference to the dying out of shinty in England and its replacement with hockey. It also makes reference to England's history and the difficulty some Scottish players have playing for the team.

References

External links

English Shinty Association

Shinty Shinty () is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. It is played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland. The sport was formerly more widespread in Scotland and even played in Northern ...