Uefa should have second tier for 'smaller' national teams, says Jersey FA boss

Jersey struggle to find regular competitive fixtures

Uefa should create a second tier for national football teams which Jersey could compete in, the president of the Jersey FA, Phil Austin, has suggested.

Uefa officials have rejected Jersey's application to become a member nation, on the grounds that the island is not recognised as an independent state.

But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will rule on the matter in June.

"We accept that Germany and England probably don't want to play us," Austin told BBC Radio Jersey.

"But why shouldn't we be in 'division two' playing against Gibraltar, Malta, Andorra and Liechtenstein?

"Our own view is that Uefa probably should divide itself in two and have a second division, if you like, for the smaller nations.

"And if we made progress and came top of that group, then we'd move up a little bit.

"So we understand the position of some of the big guys, but we don't see that as an excuse to keep us out of the whole programme."

Jersey, with a population of around 100,000, want to be recognised as an international side in their own right, but are currently classed as a county by the English Football Association.