JERSEY BULLS are hoping to make further history this season by entering a team into the FA Youth Cup.
Club officials sent a request to the England FA earlier this year with the view to sending an under-18 side into the acclaimed competition – a move that would make them the first offshore team to compete at that level.
The FA replied to the Bulls last week and have since signed off the application – with ‘conditions’ that have yet to be made clear to those at Springfield.
Bulls chief executive Ian Horswell and chairman Russell Le Feuvre subsequently contacted the U18s managers who are due to lead teams in the JFA Combination this season, and their response is believed to have been positive.
Now, the club face a race against time to raise enough sponsorship for what they hope will be an invaluable cup run.
Horswell said: ‘It would be a tremendous opportunity, for our local footballers to play in the FA Youth Cup.
‘Top quality players have come through this system and it would be amazing for Island football if it can happen. It would be an unknown quantity for us but it would be an opportunity for the lads here to showcase themselves. It is these types of games that scouts will attend, so it’s an extra opportunity for them to be seen and to be snapped up.’
Horswell added: ‘We are working with the Jersey FA on this and particularly the Centre of Excellence.
‘They will provide the manager and coaching staff and it will be entwined with their training. We won’t be taking players away for extra sessions.
‘It is all down to finances now. It is not something we budgeted for so we are trying to raise up to £35,000 in a short period of time. If we get that, we will 100% do it. If we don’t, we won’t be able to participate this year.
‘The problem with knockout football is you could be out after one game, but we will be flexible with our partners and look to either play friendlies against professional clubs throughout the season or roll it over to next season.’
The draw for the competition’s first preliminary round is due to take place on Friday 8 July.
Should Bulls play, they must face three preliminary rounds before reaching the first-round proper.
Camberley Town, a rival of the Islanders in the Combined Counties League, beat Bristol Rovers in the first-round proper in 2020, before losing to Sutton in the second round.
Victory would have earned them a trip to face Liverpool.
The FA Youth Cup has been lifted by some of the UK’s best footballers in recent decades, including Reece James, Mason Mount, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.
