News / Football teams set to find out Island Games opponents
SHETLAND men’s and women’s football teams will find out their opponents for next year’s Island Games in Orkney tonight.
The draws for the group stages of the 2025 football competitions are set to be made live from UHI Orkney’s college campus at 6pm.
BBC Radio Orkney will be providing a live-stream from the draw, as both Shetland sides discover who they will be facing next summer.
Hosts Orkney will be seeded in both draws, with 12 teams taking part in each competition.
That came after a preliminary draw was held earlier this month, with both Shetland teams enduring an anxious wait to find out if they would be included.
Three teams missed out on the women’s draw, with four – including the Isle of Wight, who finished third at the 2023 games – being excluded from the men’s competition due to accommodation constraints in Orkney.
Gold medallists Jersey are the team to avoid in the men’s side of the draw, while the blues will be out for revenge if drawn against Ynys Môn – who were the only team to beat them in Guernsey.
Both of those sides will be seeded for the men’s draw, alongside hosts Orkney. Shetland women are competing in the games for the first time in nearly 20 years and will hope to escape drawing Bermuda, who won the 2023 women’s competition without conceding a single goal.
The Western Isles and Orkney are the other two seeded sides in the women’s section.
The draws will see the 12 teams split into three groups of four teams – with the winners of each group qualifying for the semi-finals, alongside the best second placed team.
The teams will then go on to play each other for ranking positions.
BBC Radio Orkney will provide live footage of the draw from 6pm on its Facebook page tonight.
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