The Cup, which is open to representative teams from leagues at Step 7 of the National League System and for amateur players only, provides the opportunity for the winners to represent England in the UEFA Regions Cup.
Isle of Man League v Herts Senior County League
The FA Inter-League Cup
The Final
3pm, Saturday 10 May 2014
The Bowl, Douglas
And having lost the 2012 Final to fellow island outfit Jersey Football Combination, the Isle of Man will be hungry to repeat their victory of 2006 when they beat Cambridgeshire County League by 4-0 in The Final.
That would be a great achievement for boss Steve Burns, who took over ‘The Men’ in 2012 alongside his role as boss of one of the Island’s most successful club, Rushen United.
The majority of his squad are taken from St. Mary’s FC and St. George’s FC and with home advantage at the Bowl, confidence will be high after a 2-1 win over the Humber Premier League in the Semi-Final and results against the West Riding County Amateur League and the Yorkshire Amateur League prior to that.
But the ‘HSCL’ will head out to the Isle of Man with plenty of encouragement themselves, following a 4-2 win over the Dorset Premier League in their own Semi-Final.
Herts boss Mick ‘Dusty’ Miller has been involved in the league as both a player and manager for over 30 years now, so knows his group inside-out.
The Isle Of Man celebrate their winner against the Humber Premier League in the Semi-Final
As boss of Bushey Sports Club in the HSCL, he has six of his own players in the squad along with seven from Belstone United to form a familiar core to the team.
And they arrive in The Final with the unusual distinction of having already been knocked out in the Second Round, when they were beaten 2-0 by the Surrey Elite Intermediate League, only to be re-instated when their opponents were later removed from the competition.
It promises to be an intriguing encounter at the Bowl and it is an occasion which Isle of Man FA chief executive Frank Stennett is looking forward to, as football continues to develop on the Island.
"It’s is now two years since the Isle of Man FA last hosted The FA Inter-League Cup Final against the Jersey Football Combination," he said.
"On that occasion, I was asked to do a brief article on the state of grassroots football development on the Isle of Man.
"It really doesn't seem that long ago that I wrote my summary, and I must firstly state, that the intervening time seems to have flashed by very quickly!
The HSCL beat the Dorset Premier League by 4-2 after extra time in the Semi-Final
"But I believe our business, involving grassroots football, is in an even stronger position than 2012.
"There has been a lot of hard work alongside so many volunteers at our 26 Member Clubs to ensure football is in a good place at present."
Isle of Man squad: Max Thomas (St. Mary's FC), Grant Dawson (St. George’s FC), Julian Ringham (St. George's FC), Sean Quaye (St. George's FC), Johnny Myers (St. George's FC), Stephen Riding (Rushen United FC), Liam Cowin (St. George's FC), Frank Jones (St. George's FC), Lee Gale (Peel FC), Ciaran McNulty (St. George's FC), Chris Bass Jnr (St. George's FC), Conor Doyle (St. George's FC), Marc Kelly (Peel FC), Karl Clark (St. Mary's FC), James McStay (St. George's FC), Calum Morrissey (St. George’s FC), Sam Caine (St. George’s FC), Dan Bell (Peel FC), Ashley Webster (Laxey FC).
Herts Senior County League squad: Sam Styles (Belstone FC), Nathan Ratcliffe (Standon & Puckeridge FC), Wes Fox (Bush Hill Rangers FC), Chris Ingham (Belstone FC), Nick Turner (Belstone FC), Tom Guainiere (Bushey Sports Club), Rob Courtnage (Bushey Sports Club), Jamie Hurst (Bushey Sports Club), Darren Butler (Belstone FC), Jack Brown (Bushey Sports Club), Lee Inch (Belstone FC), Drew Tyler (Cuffley FC), Gavin Chatterpaul (Bushey Sports Club), Ross Shorto. (Bushey Sports Club), Jamie Arthur (Belstone FC), Darren Turner (Belstone FC), James Endacott (Standon & Puckeridge FC).
