Nova England national football team

Nova England

Association	NEFA
FMF member	2006–08, 2008–
Confederation	EMUFA
Home stadium	West Grinstead National Stadium
FMF code	NEN
First FMF intermicronational
Nova England 1–0 New Oscland
Biggest win
NEN 57–0 Franklin Islands
Biggest defeat
Nova England 0–6 Taesong
FMF World Cup
Appearances	6 (first in 2006)
Best result	Runners-up
EMU Championships
Appearances	6 (first in 2007)
Best result	Third place

The Nova England national football team is the football team which currently represents the Mercurian autonomous region of Nova England, and previously represented the Riponian autonomous territory and independent kingdom of the same name. The team is a founding member of both the FMF and the EMUFA, and is run by the NEFA.

The team has existed twice in the FMF's history; firstly between the organisation's foundation and 2008 as an independent nation and an autonomous territory of Riponia, and secondly since mid-2008 again as an independent nation and in its current form. The team is generally seen as one of the strongest national sides on Micras, having appeared in six FMF World Cups, reaching the final in 2009.

History

Nova England was one of the founding members of the FMF when the organisation was created in October 2006 prior to the first FMF World Cup. The national team competed in the tournament, advancing from their group with four points. After beating Craitland in the quarter-finals on penalties, the team lost to Gaia by the same means before losing 1–0 in the third-place play-off to finish in fourth.

The following year, the team was less successful in their World Cup campaign, only managing third in their qualifying group, meaning that they even missed-out on a play-off place. Later in the year, Nova England and Nova English Korea were announced as joint-hosts of the inaugural EMU Championships. The team topped their group and beat invitees New Brittania 2–1 in the quarter-finals, before losing 1–0 to both Passas and Craitland to come fourth in their second consecutive tournament.

In early 2008, Nova England was annexed by Riponia but retained its separate national team. However, only a few months later, Riponia was declared dead and left Micras, along with Nova England. In mid-2008, Nova England returned to Micras as an independent nation again, and was granted FMF membership in time to be involved in that year's World Cup qualifiers. The team topped their six-team group, only losing once, and successfully qualified for the 2008 FMF World Cup. In the finals, the team could only manage third in their group, finishing behind fellow EMUFA members Bobalania and Hamland.

The following year again saw a successful Nova English qualfying campaign, with the team being unbeaten as they won their group. The team came third in the sole five-team EMU 2009 group, sealing third place in the process. They continued their good form into the World Cup finals, topping their group on goal difference, seeing-off Passas after extra time in the quarter-finals and beating 2006 champions Beaugium in the semi-finals. In the final, however, the team lost 2–0 to hosts Alexandria, but still secured their best finish as runners-up.

In 2010's qualifiers, the team again qualified successfully by comfortably topping their group unbeaten. Despite winning their opening game in the finals, the team then lost their following two matches to finish third in their group to miss-out on advancing to the knock-out stages.

The team continued their good form in qualifiers the following year, again going unbeaten as they topped their group by a point. In their EMU 2011 group, the team finished second behind Hamland without losing, before being beaten by Interland in the third-place play-off. In the World Cup finals later in the year, the team had their worst performance, finishing bottom of their group without gaining a point.

In 2012's qualifiers, the team failed to qualify for the the finals for the first time since 2007. However, a second-placed finish in their five-team group meant that they would appear in a fourth EMU Championships. Following qualification, Nova England left Micras but the team was granted permission to remain playing due to Mercury's foundation of a non-successive autonomous region of the same name soon afterwards. In EMU 2012, the team finished second in their group behind hosts and eventual runners-up Mercury. Later in the year, the team competed in the first Territories Cup, where they finished second in the football tournament.

The 2013 qualification rounds saw success for the team as they won their group with 19 points to reach both the World Cup and EMU 2013. In EMU 2013, the team finished second in their three-team group with three points. In the World Cup, the team could only finish bottom of their group with only one point to their name.

Nova England finished third in their four-team 2014 qualifying group with seven points, but automatically qualified for EMU 2014 after successfully bidding to host the tournament for a second time. In the tournament, the team topped their group with four points but were then heavily beaten by Passas and Hamland, and finished in fourth place.

In the following year's qualifiers, the team struggled in an evenly-matched five-team group, and finished in fourth place with ten points to their name.

Chronological competitive participation

• 2006 FMF World Cup
• 2007 FMF World Cup qualification
• 2007 EMU Championships (co-hosts)
• 2008 FMF World Cup qualification
• 2008 FMF World Cup
• 2009 FMF World Cup qualification
• 2009 EMU Championships
• 2009 FMF World Cup
• 2010 FMF World Cup qualification
• 2010 FMF World Cup
• 2011 FMF World Cup qualification
• 2011 EMU Championships
• 2011 FMF World Cup
• 2012 FMF World Cup qualification
• 2012 EMU Championships
• 2012 Territories Cup
• 2013 FMF World Cup qualification
• 2013 EMU Championships
• 2013 FMF World Cup
• 2014 FMF World Cup qualification
• 2014 EMU Championships (hosts)
• 2015 FMF World Cup qualification

Players

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Age Club 1 1GK Nicholas Harfield 24 AFC Heartpool 2 3DF Clive Austonov 29 AFC Heartpool 3 3DF Matthew Ragnus 26 Kealb FC 4 3DF John Mattel 25 AFC Heartpool 5 3DF Max Herbert 30 St John's FC 6 5MF Jeff Johnson 29 Porapa FC 7 5MF Theo Sinclair 21 Eĵars Town FC 8 5MF Nigel Bradford 24 AFC Heartpool 9 7FW Andrew Lee 29 Róndlinga Diamonds FC 10 7FW Ka'an Peterson 32 AFC Heartpool 11 5MF Richard Jones 30 Spleazure Swifts 12 1GK Owen Jones 23 Hänävissen-ó-Cräiteland FC 13 3DF Filipe Da Costa 28 Mortis Mercatoria FC 14 3DF Phillip Hadden 28 West Grinstead FC 15 5MF Jack Jones 27 Spleazure Swifts 16 7FW Ricardo Jones 22 Zidado West United 17 5MF Peter Nelson 27 West Grinstead FC 18 1GK Chris Patel 25 Spleazure Swifts 19 3DF Harley Smith 22 AFC Heartpool 20 5MF Vincent Weber 29 New Kirrie Thistle 21 5MF Robert Alcott 25 Asga Nomads 22 7FW Callum Sorrel 31 AFC Heartpool 23 7FW Alex Kiker 30 Xäiville Teflons FC

Kit

Honours

• FMF World Cup: 0
  • 2009 – Runners-up
  • 2006 – Fourth place
• EMU Championships: 0
  • 2009 – Third place
  • 2007, 2011, 2014 – Fourth place
• Territories Cup: 0
  • 2012 – Runners-up

Flag

Nova England has used the following flag during both of its FMF affiliations:

2006–08 2008–