Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

is one of the biggest sports in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, along with the sport of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. The sport was brought to

by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. It is governed by the

Bermuda Football Association The Bermuda Football Association, founded in 1928, is the official football organization in Bermuda and is in charge of the Bermudian national team. The league is also in charge of the sporting leagues on the island. Association staff Lea ...

(BFA) and is a full-member of

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

and the

Caribbean Football Union The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is the representative organization for football (soccer), football associations in the Caribbean. It represents 25 FIFA member nations, as well as 6 territories that are not affiliated with FIFA. The Union was e ...

. The BFA organizes the

Bermuda national football team The Bermuda national football team represents Bermuda in international football, and is controlled by the Bermuda Football Association, which is a member of FIFA since 1962, a member of CONCACAF since 1967 and also a member of CFU. History 1 ...

. Today Bermuda's top domestic league is the

Bermudian Premier Division The Bermudian Premier Division (officially the Digicel Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the highest level of professional Association football, football in Bermuda. Clubs compete for the national title and a spot in the CONCACAF C ...

History of Bermudian football

The game of football was brought to the island by

in the early 1900s. In 1928 the national federation, the

, was founded, although it took the federation 34 years before getting affiliation with

and

. In 1963 the federation started the

which is to be the top division of Bermudan Football and still is today. In 2006 the BFA started a new professional club known as the

Bermuda Hogges Bermuda Hogges were a Bermudian football team based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid Atlantic Division of the Eastern ...

which started play in the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

, the 3rd tier of the United States in 2007. In 2009 the club moved down to the

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will feature ...

, the 4th tier of the United States. After the 2011 season however the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

s announced the teams for the 2012 season with the Bermuda Hogges not being in the league alignment.

League system

Qualification for CONCACAF competition

The club that wins the Bermuda Premier Division is eligible to enter the preliminary stage of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield.

National teams

The Bermuda national football team is the national team of Bermuda and is controlled by the

. A member of

, it is not among its strongest teams. They were runners up in the 1967 tournament of the

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, losing to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the final. However, the side has badly slipped down the FIFA rankings, losing to then non-UEFA members

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

2–0 in the

2007 Island Games The 2007 Island Games were the 12th edition of the Island Games.The week-long Games were held in Rhodes, Greece, from June 30 to July 6, 2007. Medal count Sports The sports chosen for the games were: See also * Basketball at the 2007 Islan ...

in Rhodes.

Notable Bermudan footballers

Shaun Goater Leonard Shaun Goater (born 25 February 1970) is a Bermudian former professional Association football, footballer, coach and pundit who is currently part of the coaching staff at Aston Villa W.F.C., Aston Villa Women. As a player he was a Forwa ...

Clyde Best Clyde Cyril Best (born 24 February 1951) is a Bermudian former football player. He was one of the first black players in First Division football in England, scoring 47 goals as a striker for West Ham United between 1968 and 1976. Early and p ...

Nahki Wells Nahki Michael Wells (born 1 June 1990) is a Bermudian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Bristol City F.C., Bristol City and the Bermuda national football team, Bermuda ...

David Bascome David Bascome MBE (born January 29, 1970) is a retired association football forward who is currently the head coach of the Baltimore Blast in the Major Arena Soccer League. Club career David Bascome started his First Division soccer career at ...

Reggie Lambe Reginald Everard Vibart Thompson-Lambe (born 4 February 1991), known as Reggie Lambe, is a Bermudian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Needham Market. Lambe is a Bermudian national team player, making his first appearance at age 16 agai ...

Kyle Lightbourne Kyle Lavince Lightbourne (born 29 September 1968) is a Bermudian professional footballer who played as a forward for Scarborough, Walsall, Coventry City, Fulham, Stoke City, Swindon Town, Cardiff City, Macclesfield Town and Hull City. At inter ...

* Andrew Bascome *

Osagi Bascome Osagi Bascome (17 April 1998 – 18 December 2021) was a Bermudian association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Bascome spent his youth with several English and Spanish clubs, while as a senior he rep ...

* Dante Leverock

National football stadium

References

{{League systems