BVIFA announces CONCACAF squad

March 4, 2021 by
BVIFA President, Mr. Andy Bickerton and Interim Head Coach Mr. Dan Neville

Interim Head Coach of the BVI for the CONCACAF 1st Round Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022, Mr. Dan Neville has announced a squad of twenty-one players for the two games to be played in Curacao later this month.

“The upcoming World Cup qualifiers are another great learning opportunity for the squad and part of our strategic plan to create opportunities for our top performing young players,” stated Neville. “We go into both games fully committed to being as competitive as we possibly can, we cannot guarantee results, but we can guarantee we will be organized, show immense national pride, put sweat on the shirt and have “a never say die” spirit!”

Squad: Phillip Jules, Daniel Gilford, William Butler, Kristian Javier, Giovanni Grant, Miguel Marshall, Jerry Wiltshire, T’Sharne Gallimore, Jamie Wilson, Joshua Bertie, Carlos Septus, Robbie Green, Tyler Forbes, Justin Smith, Luka Chalwell, Luca Reich, Liam Blok, Kevin Fisher-Daniel, Ikyjah Williams, T’Khoi Richardson and Charles Medway

Head Coach: Dan Neville

Asst Coaches: Clinton Percival and John Reilly

Fitness Coach: Javon Carty

Goalkeeping Coach: Morris Mark

Coach: Richie Morton

Manager: Wendel Nichols

Physio: Sheldon Harry

With Guatemala being 78 places ahead of the BVI in the FIFA rankings and St. Vincent 40 places ahead, the task is difficult but there is genuine belief amongst the squad that they can cause an upset.

“It is well known that we were looking forward to playing Guatemala at home,” commented Mr. Andy Bickerton. “However, the worldwide pandemic had different ideas and now we will travel to Curacao to face two tough opponents, but we have invested heavily in our youth program for the best part of a decade and although we may be one of FIFA’s smallest member associations, we are probably one of the most ambitious.”

The average age of the squad for the first two games is just 20 and making a senior squad for the first time are Richardson, Chalwell, Reich, Williams and Smith – all of whom started in the BVIFA’s School Leagues.

Both matches are scheduled to kick off at 8pm and the BVIFA will announce full details on how to watch the games, and how to support the team by purchasing a match day program and match ticket in the next few days.

Saturday 27th March v Guatemala

Tuesday 30th March v St Vincent and the Grenadines

The venue is the Stadion Emilio Hato in Willemstad, Curacao.

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BVI to face ‘tough’ group in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers

August 25, 2020 by
BVI drawn to play in Group C of the first round of the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers for Qatar 2022

The Draw for the first round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying for Qatar 2022 took place in Zurich, Switzerland on August 19, 2020. The six highest ranked teams of were pre-seeded into groups A through F and revealed a number of exciting match-ups among the 30 teams.

The British Virgin Islands, led by 18-year-old Tyler Forbes, are in Group C and will look to rekindle the same fighting spirit they displayed in the CONCACAF Nations League Qualifiers. The BVI faces tough competition from Group C which includes Curacao, Guatemala, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Cuba.

“The team is very excited to play in this group especially with the talent we have and the growing bond we have together,” commented Forbes. “It won’t be easy, but we like a challenge and us underdogs we always seem to perform better like in the game against Martinique. I feel the BVI will be proud of us – and surprised too – when, hopefully, they get to see what we have to offer with some home games. After the hurricanes of 2017 and the Covid-19 pandemic, the team is hungry for success and ready to finally play in front of our home fans.”

BVIFA President, Andy Bickerton noted the World Cup Draw had thrown the BVI into a tough group and is hoping the pandemic won’t stop the opportunity of staging home games. “We have been drawn in a very strong group and have to hope that despite the COVID challenges we are able to play our home matches against Guatemala and Curacao in the BVI.”

Matches in the group are expected to take place from October 2020.

Full CONCACAF World Cup qualifying groups:

Group A: El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Montserrat, United States Virgin Islands
Group B: Canada, Suriname, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Aruba
Group C: Curacao, Guatemala, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, British Virgin Islands
Group D: Panama, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Dominica, Anguilla

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