Football at the 1991 Island Games
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Åland |
| Dates | 24–29 June |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Faroe Islands (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Ynys Môn |
| Third place | Jersey |
| Fourth place | Åland |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 56 (3.5 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Jens Erik Rasmussen (6 goals) |
← 1989 1993 → | |
Football was contested as part of the programme for the 1991 Island Games which was hosted in Åland from 23 to 29 June 1991. It was the second edition of the men's football tournament at the multi-sport event organised by the International Island Games Association.
The football tournament began with the first matches in the group stage on 24 June 1991 and ended with the gold medal match on 29 June 1991. Ynys Môn and the Faroe Islands, the defending champions, contested the final. Goals from Jens Erik Rasmussen and Eyðstein Davidsen helped the Faroe Islands to successfully defend their title as they won the match 2–0 after extra time. In the bronze medal match, Jersey defeated the hosts Åland 2–0.
This was the last time that the Faroe Islands men's team contested the Island Games.
Background
A five-a-side youth football tournament was held at the inaugural games in 1985 held in Douglas, Isle of Man but football was completely absent from the programme at the 1987 Island Games held in Guernsey.[1]
The first men's football tournament was held at the 1989 Island Games in the Faroe Islands. The five nations which entered – Åland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Shetland and Ynys Môn – contested a single round robin group. The hosts, the Faroe Islands, won gold, Ynys Môn won silver and Åland won the bronze medal.[2]
Format
Eight teams took part in the competition. They were drawn into two single round robin groups of four teams. The winning team from each group would contest the gold medal match and the runners-up would contest the bronze medal match. Play-off placement matches were held for the teams finishing third and fourth in each group – the third-placed teams contested the fifth-place match and the fourth-placed teams contested the seventh-place match.[3]
Participants
Group phase
The group phase was played on 24, 25 and 26 June 1991.[3]
Group 1
The Faroe Islands won all three of their games to progress to the gold medal match.[4]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faroe Islands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 6 | Qualification for the Gold medal match |
| 2 | Jersey | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 4 | Qualification for the Bronze medal match |
| 3 | Shetland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 2 | Qualification for the fifth-place match |
| 4 | Greenland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 0 | Qualification for the seventh-place match |
| Faroe Islands | 3–0 | Shetland |
|---|---|---|
| [3] |
| Faroe Islands | 3–2 | Greenland |
|---|---|---|
|
[3] |
|
| Faroe Islands | 5–3 | Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| [3] | Greig (3) |
Group 2
Ynys Môn won all three of their games to progress to the gold medal match.[4]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ynys Môn | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 6 | Qualification for the Gold medal match |
| 2 | Åland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4 | Qualification for the Bronze medal match |
| 3 | Guernsey | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 2 | Qualification for the fifth-place match |
| 4 | Isle of Wight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 | Qualification for the seventh-place match |
| Åland | 1–0 | Isle of Wight |
|---|---|---|
| Söderdahl | [3] |
| Åland | 2–0 | Guernsey |
|---|---|---|
|
[3] |
| Ynys Môn | 5–1 | Isle of Wight |
|---|---|---|
|
[3] | Grenning |
| Isle of Wight | 0–2 | Guernsey |
|---|---|---|
| [3] |
|
Placement play-off matches
Seventh-place match
The Isle of Wight defeated Greenland in the seventh-place match.[4]
| Isle of Wight | 3–1 | Greenland |
|---|---|---|
|
[3] | Kristiansen |
Fifth-place match
Shetland defeated Guernsey in the fifth-place match.[4]
Bronze medal match
Jersey defeated Åland to win the bronze medal.[4]
Gold medal match
After a goalless 90 minutes, the tournament's top scorer, Jens Erik Rasmussen gave the Faroe Islands the lead before Eyðstein Davidsen secured a 2–0 win as the Faroe Islands successfully defended their title.[4]
| Faroe Islands | 2–0 (a.e.t.) | Ynys Môn |
|---|---|---|
|
[3] |
Final rankings
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| Faroe Islands | |
| Ynys Môn | |
| Jersey | |
| 4 | Åland |
| 5 | Shetland |
| 6 | Guernsey |
| 7 | Isle of Wight |
| 8 | Greenland |
Top goalscorers
There were 56 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.5 goals per match.
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
- Magni Jarnskor
- Edvard Kristiansen
- Tony Johnston
- George Watt
1 goal
- Jonas Henriksson
- Olav Marchini
- Robert Söderdahl
- Jan Dam
- Eyðstein Davidsen
- Kurt Mørkøre
- Kari Reynheim
- Ari Thomasen
- Gedion Jörgensen
- Peter Møller
- Jan Nielsen
- Darren Le Tissier
- Larry Luscome
- Lee Dixon
- Adam Robinson
- Neil Livesey
- Tony Salaun
- Colin Jones
- Peter Kasparek
- Bob Parry
- John Walsh
Aftermath
The Faroe Islands Football Association (FSF) became affiliated with FIFA in 1988 and with UEFA in 1989.[5] The 1991 Island Games would be the last that the Faroe Islands men's team would contest. Having won the first two editions unbeaten, they hold a record of eight wins from eight matches overall.[1]
Reference
- ^ a b Beuker, John; Cruickshank, Mark; Di Maggio, Roberto (20 July 2023). "Island Games". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ Morrison, Neil; Cruickshank, Mark (5 April 2007). "Island Games Tournament 1989 (Faroe Islands)". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Morrison, Neil; Cruickshank, Mark (5 April 2007). "Island Games Tournament 1991 (Åland)". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Results - Aland Island Games, Football - Fotboll" (PDF). International Island Games Association. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Faroe Islands at UEFA.com". UEFA. 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2025.