Chagos

For Yorkshire's second CONIFA international the visitors were Chagos Islands, a team formed from the Chagossian diaspora.

Chagossians were forcibly removed from their Indian Ocean island homes by the British government between 1968 and 1973 in order that the US could establish a base at Diego Garcia. A recent article by Benjamin Zephaniah highlights the situation of Chagossians living in the UK.

A football team is one means of establishing and promoting an autonomous identity, and if nothing else was achieved by today's match,  several hundred people from Yorkshire got to learn a little more about Chagos islanders and their situation.

While the Yorkshire team is drawn from  semi-professional clubs, there are 5.3 million people in Yorkshire compared to a couple of thousand Chagossians. So although Chagos Islands are the more established CONIFA team, we shouldn't be surprised that Yorkshire proved too strong. With three goals in each half the match finished 6-0; you'll find brief match highlights here if you're interested, and the BBC have done a nice little film which explores the background a bit more.

Today's image sees the Chagos Islands players being applauded off the pitch at the end of the match. For some in-play action, see extras.

Before the match I took a spin around Fitzwilliam Country Park. It was sunny and warm enough for butterflies, but no luck so I'm still awaiting my first of the year. The Blackthorn was starting to bloom though (extra).