West Indies national football team
The West Indies national football team is the team that represents the West Indies. It is not a member of FIFA, CFU or CONCACAF, however they were affiliated with the N.F.-Board, an organisation for teams who are non-affiliated with FIFA, until 2017 when the status of membership was abolished. The team is organised by the West Indies Football Association, and its president is James Baird.
The West Indies team uses Caribbean players from all over the world, of whom have not played with their own national team, and gives them the opportunity to represent the West Indies and let them experience international football.
The team was scheduled to play in the 2014 Viva World Cup, however due to the crisis and breakup of the N.F.-Board, as well as its subsequent failure to organise the tournament, it was never played.
History
There have been many attempts to put a West Indies football team together but in the past they mostly failed although there was the British Caribbean Football Association, which was established in 1957 and played various matches as the select team from the Caribbean mostly against English opposition.In 2013, the idea of a united team of the West Indies was brought back and put into action, with the founding of the West Indies Football Association by James Baird, in Trinidad and Tobago.
Due to the nature of the organisation, players from across the region have the opportunity to participate on a world footballing stage where perhaps they would not be offered that chance with their home nation.
The WIFA Pirates played their first ever proper match on January 26, 2015, in a friendly match against the Petrotrin Sports Club, winning 5–4.