Gambia National Football Team:
 The
soccer squad, who are also nicknamed The
Scorpions, are the national football team of Gambia who are
overseen by the Gambia Football Association. Until 1965, the team,
and the country, were known as "British Gambia". It
has never qualified for the World Cup.
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The country kicked off the qualifiers for the African
Cup of Nations 2004 with an historic
 draw
against Senegal and silver-medallists at the African Cup of Nations
2002) and also enjoyed a short period at the top of their qualifying
group. Gambia's most famous soccer players are Jatto Ceesay, Ebou
Sillah, Seffo Soley and Edrissa Sonko.
Uniform Team Kit:
| Shorts: |
Red/blue/white |
| Jerseys: |
Red/blue/white |
| Socks: |
Red/blue/white |
Popularity:
Soccer is by far the most popular sport as a spectators sport
and pastime, loved by Gambians of all ages and in particular the
young. The country's international success is very limited due
to its small size which limits the pool size from which talent
can be drawn.
In the last few years, football in Gambia has experienced a considerable
rise in popularity particularly with the advent and increasing
use of satellite television which has bought the likes of David
Beckham & international league games to people's homes.
All seven regions of the nation are represented by clubs in the
first, second and third divisions of the national championship.
Recently, an official women's championship has also been organised.
At youth level, Gambia qualified for the African U-17 Championship
for the first time in 2003, when the event was held in Swaziland.
Independence Stadium in Bakau
frequently hosts local and international matches, attended by
large crowds, as tickets are free or quite inexpensive.
Major League Championships:
The major league, Gambia Football Federation (GFF), has perhaps
the largest following, with teams such as Wallidan, Real de Banjul,
Hawks, Ports, Armed Forces, and Bakau United. Tickets are free
for regular season games and about $0.35-$1.25 for finals.
Minor League Championships:
The birthplace of the Super Nawettan
Championship, also known as the Zonal Championship is Bakau.
Nawettan is the minor league which is played during the rainy
season, often on water logged pitches. Tickets cost about $0.10-$0.18.
Serrekunda East won
the 2006 Zonal Cup after defeating
the Brikama team in the final. Bakau defeated Banjul's City
Boys in the Africell sponsored
zonal tournament after defeating Banjul 1-0 in a replay held on
Sunday December 9th, 2007.
On September 7th, 2008 Wallidan
came from 2 goals down to win their 18th Gamtel
sponsored FA cup title over Samger and their second this season.
The game which had ended in a 2-2 draw was decided on penalties
which went in favour of Wallidan. The team scored 4 while their
opponents scored 2 goals.
This result has made Wallidan Champions of both the 2007/08 Gambia
Football Federation League and FA Cup. The triumphant Wallidan
side went away with a trophy and a prize of D50,000 while Samger
received D30,000.
Futsal:
In June 2008 over 20 Gambian coaches underwent a training course
on Futsal by Six British instructors. It is essentially an indoor
five-a-side soccer game with small goal posts and a small ball.
The game, which is endorsed by UEFA
and FIFA, is derived from the
Spanish words for 'football - Fútbol
and 'hall' – Sala and was coined by the United
States Futsal Federation.
Gambia Football
Federation:
 The
GFF is the governing body of football in Gambia. It was founded
in 1952, and affiliated to FIFA
since 1968 and to CAF
(Confederation Of African Football or Confédération Africaine
de Football) in 1968. It organizes the national league matches
and the national team.
In August 2007 they were handed over the keys to their new administrative
buildings as part of the Goal Bureau project called the
Football House to which FIFA contributed $400,000 of the
cost while $50,000 was contributed by the GFA.
There is a yearly $250,000 subvention from the world governing
body (FIFA) for national associations
only.
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