# England national shinty team

The English Shinty Team is the team selected to represent The English Shinty Association and the sport of shinty in England. It has competed at International level against the United States and Alba, and also competes in Scottish cup competitions at club level.

## History

The English Shinty Team was formed along with the English Shinty Association in 2013 to represent the association in fixtures.
They took on the USA in what was dubbed as the first ever Shinty International at St Andrews in 2013, winning 2–0.
Since then, The English Shinty Team have entered the Bullough Cup annually and played friendly matches when possible as noted below.

## Eligibility Criteria

Players are generally considered eligible to play for the ESA team if they are registered with one of the shinty clubs based in England and not playing with any other club at the time. Most of the players are permanently resident in England, but there have been cases of players who have a historical link with England (often by birth or long residency in the country) and are not registered with another club registering and joining the team for matches.

## Matches

| Date | Competition | Match | Result | Captain | Scorers |
| 20 April 2013 | International Challenge | ESA vs USA | 2–0 | Graham Love | Alan MacDonald x2 |
| 18 May 2013 | Bullough Cup | Tayforth vs ESA | 11-1 | | Alan MacDonald |
| 3 April 2014 | International Challenge | ESA vs USA | 8-0 | | Matthew Casey x5 Alan MacDonald Matt Mossop |
| 31 May 2014 | Bullough Cup | Ballachulish Camanachd Club 2nd team vs ESA | 2-0 | John Kewley | |
| 2014 | Bullough Plate | Aberdour vs ESA | 2-0 | John Kewley | |
| 2015 | Bullough Cup | Kyles Athletic 2nd team vs ESA | 16-0 | Matt Mossop (acting) | |
| 11 June 2016 | Bullough Cup | Glasgow Mid Argyll 2nd team vs ESA | 6-1 | John Kewley | Matt Mossop |
| 2017 | Bullough Cup | Kyles Athletic 2nd team vs ESA | 7-0 | Luke Sparrow | |
| 5 May 2018 | Friendly | Aberdour 2nd team vs ESA | 4-4 | James Hoppy | Mossop x2, Matthew Young, Craig Holt |
| 16 June 2018 | Bullough Cup | Strachur and District Shinty Club vs ESA | 21-0 | James Hoppy | |
| 28 July 2018 | International series match | Alba (shinty team) vs ESA | 11-1 | Matt Mossop | Matt Mossop |
| 6 October 2018 | Friendly | ESA vs Celts | 3-1 | Matt Mossop | Easter Tour 2019 19 April 2019 Friendly ESA vs Uddingston 6-1 Capt James Livingstone ESA Scorers Livingstone x2, Hopkins, Holley x2, Soane 20 April 2019 Friendly ESA vs St Andrews Uni 12-2 Capt Matt Mossop ESA Scorers Soane x7, Mossop x3, Hopkins, Holley 21 April 2019 International Challenge England v Scottish Universities Select 7-10 England Scorers Soane x3, Mossop x2, Hopkins, Holley |
| 4 May 2019 | Bullough Cup | ESA vs Ballachulish Camanachd Club 2nd team | 4-2 | Matt Mossop | Christopher Holley x2, James Livingstone x2 |
| 15 June 2019 | Bullough Cup (2nd round) | Lochside Rovers vs ESA | 6-2 | Matt Mossop | James Livingstone |
| 22 February 2020 | Friendly | Tayforth vs ESA | 5-1 | Matt Mossop | Christopher Holley |
| 20 June 2021 | Bullough Cup | Kilmory Camanachd vs ESA | 5-0 | David Mclean | |
| 30 April 2022 | Bullough Cup | Kilmory Camanachd vs ESA | 5-0 | Barra de Burca | |

## In popular culture

The song "When you hear the lions' roar" is an ode to the English Shinty Team and makes reference to the dying out of shinty in England and its replacement with hockey. It also makes reference to England's history and the difficulty some Scottish players have playing for the team.