Sport / New football president excited to take over ahead of big year
3G pitch, Island Games and revamped leagues all on the cards for Jakob Eunson
THE NEW president of Shetland Football Association (SFA) says he will do “anything to better local football” during his spell in charge.
Jakob Eunson, 27, replaced the outgoing George Smith at last night’s (Thursday) SFA annual general meeting after three years as vice-president.
Despite his young age Eunson – who manages the farm in Uradale – comes with a wealth of experience, having joined the SFA some six years ago.
He said it was the “natural progression” for him to move in to the SFA’s top role after years learning from predecessors George and Iain Smith.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he told Shetland News.
“I kent it would be the natural step, I knew at some point I would probably end up in the top chair.”
Eunson takes over as SFA president ahead of a huge year, which will see Shetland’s men’s team tackle both the Island Games in Orkney and the usual inter-county clash.
There is also the prospect of big changes to the club league structure – with a new team joining for the new season.
That is likely to mean there are three leagues in 2025, with the now 13-team reserve league set to be split in two.
And the SFA hopes a state-of-the-art 3G pitch will be built in Lerwick – if approved by Shetland Islands Council – which would allow for outdoor football to be played the year round.
“That would be a big step for football here,” Eunson said.
“It would open up a whole avenue of things, and would mean we wouldn’t have to worry about games going late in to September.
“You could also have the county team competing through the winter.
“That’s the big change that I’m optimistically hoping I can fulfil on what George [Smith] has started.
“Hopefully this year will be eventful in all the best ways.”
Eunson went to an SFA AGM six years ago as representative of Scalloway FC – who he still plays for – only because “there was no-one available”.
He left the meeting as the SFA’s new sponsorship co-ordinator, a role he held until last night.
And over the last three years he has also been the SFA’s vice-president, helping to oversee a chaotic year of Covid football in that time.
“That was a challenge in itself, with all the rules and the difficulties that came with it,” he said.
“I’ve seen the most difficult year for football, so I think I’ve got a fair bit of experience which will hopefully mean something.”
Eunson does not support a team outside of Shetland – and said football in the isles is a “local cause and passion” for him.
He vowed to look at things in a “fair and impartial” way, despite his allegiances to Scalloway FC.
And he added it would be very hard to find a committee if only people affiliated with no clubs in Shetland were allowed to join.
That is even more evident with a member of new club Southside Impact set to join the SFA’s committee for the new season.
James Bell is one of the names joining up, taking over as fixture secretary for the reserve league.
It comes with the SFA likely to split that league – which now contains 13 teams, with the new addition – in two.
Eunson said they were looking at a seven-seven-six split between the leagues, with the seven-team A league at the top.
Then there would be a reserve league – containing only the reserve teams of those seven A league sides – and finally an “independent league”.
This will feature six teams – including the newly formed Southside Impact, Bressay Sharks and Wastside Rebels.
Southside are filled with players “that have fallen away from playing” in recent years, and Eunson said it was “fantastic to see” them returning to the game.
The new president said they would be drawing up a detailed league structure and fixtures in the new year, to give teams plenty of time to raise suggestions or concerns.
“Hopefully there’s a team in the future who wants to go up in to the A league, or Delting maybe feel they can field two teams again,” he said.
“It would be good to get back up to eight teams in the A league.”
He said the SFA felt the reserve league needed to now be split in two, with it “pretty difficult” to organise fixtures and referees for 13 teams.
That was especially the case when some referees played for teams in the reserve league, he added.
Another quandary for the SFA will be the scheduling of the annual inter-county fixture, which Shetland is due to host next year.
Traditionally the game is played on the last Saturday in July, but Eunson said that looked unlikely due to the Orkney Island Games finishing a week earlier.
But Eunson was optimistic about the upcoming year, with a full committee found to lead them forward.
Stuart Sinclair has taken over Eunson’s role as vice-president, while Paul Bremner will adopt his position as sponsorship co-ordinator as well as being the new discipline secretary.
And Eunson’s predecessor – George Smith – will remain on the committee as treasurer.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces, and returning faces, so there’s a really good level of new and old experience,” he said.
“It’s kind of the perfect committee to get under way with.”
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