Yorkshire play their first International fixture

Just two weeks after the trials to put together the side, Yorkshire drew 1-1 with Isle of Man in their first foray into International football. 

The 'Yorkshire International Football Association' was founded back in July 2017 and worked hard to get the team recognised by CONIFA, the federation for sides from "nations, de-facto nations, regions, minority peoples and sports-isolated territories".

Yorkshire, in blue, line up ahead of their first ever fixture.
Pic courtesy of BBC News. 

Taking place at Hemsworth Miners FC in Pontefract, over 600 people turned up to see the debut tie.

25 year-old Jordan Coduri who plys his trade at non-league Penistone Church was the scorer of the first goal.

In May Yorkshire will host a six-team tournament, featuring sides from Tibet and the Chagos Islands that could help cement themselves as a top non-fifa playing nation.

Chairman Phil Hegarty wrote in the historic match programm: "I always knew we'd reach the destination - Yorkshire has a powerful brand - but just never dreamed it would happen so soon."

"We are going to keep playing games and get ourselves high enough up the CONIFA rankings to hopefully get us into the European Championships next year, and the World Cup the year after that," he added.