'Dreams come true' for nation with no football team

The Marshall Islands are the self-proclaimed last country on Earth without a football team

A fundraiser has been set-up to help a nation's "dreams come true" by playing their first ever international football match.

The Marshall Islands are the self-proclaimed "last country on Earth without a football team" but Lloyd Owers, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, is hoping to change that.

He is the technical director of the Marshall Island Soccer Federation which is organising an international tournament to be held in Arkansas in the US, in August.

"It's an honour to be part of it," said Mr Owers, who started the job in 2023, adding it was a first step towards the team joining FIFA and competing in World Cup qualifying matches.

Lloyd Owers from Banbury is technical director of the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation

"We have massive ambitions," he told BBC Radio Oxfordshire.

"We want to be part of something big.

"We didn't want to take the easy option of playing local, regional countries. We wanted to test ourselves and put ourselves on the map."

The Marshall Islands is a chain of volcanic islands and coral-based atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with a population of about 40,000 people.

Its football federation is planning to stage a four-team tournament at John Brown University, against established FIFA nations; Turks & Caicos, the US Virgin Islands and Guam.

Mr Owers said the reason the event would be held 6,200 miles (10,000km) from their homeland is because Arkansas is home to the largest community of Marshallese, outside of the Marshall Islands.

The Marshall Islands are hoping to take-on Turks & Caicos, the US Virgin Islands, and Guam

When Mr Owers started the job in 2023 he said the main island of Majuro "had nothing - no football infrastructure whatsoever".

He said he applied for the role because "the opportunity to be part of something massive was incredible in itself".

"The place, in terms of the location, was obviously a draw as well," he admitted.

"Over the last two years we've managed to go from strength to strength, now leading to what we've announced this week in terms of our first international fixtures.

"So, yeah, exciting news."

The federation is hoping to raise £20,000 to help pay for kit, equipment and accommodation for the visiting teams.