Nauru aims to field first senior football team as volunteers build game from scratch

Last nation without a senior side seeks football foothold

Like much of the world, Nauru was gripped by World Cup fever for the past six weeks. When Spain lifted the trophy, almost every trace of football on the tiny Pacific island stopped again. Football is almost non-existent on Nauru, which has never fielded a team in an official international match and has just one hard sand pitch.

While interest in big Premier League matches exists and children wear Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo kits, attempts to actually play the game are often mocked unless it is Aussie rules, the island’s dominant sport.

Volunteer-led revival

A group of volunteers led by British former academy player Charlie Pomroy is seeking to change that. The Nauru Soccer Federation recently posted on social media congratulating the new world champions and saying "one day we hope to be in Spain's position", a fanciful dream backed by real groundwork in what it says is the last country not to have had a senior international side.

Pomroy is technical director for Nauru Soccer and one of eight volunteers aiming to develop the game. "They are trying to change the image for the better and get involved in more sport," he said. "They [Nauru] want people to see the country in a more positive light rather than the punchline of a joke."

"So whether it's football, whether it's Aussie rules, whether it's rugby, basketball, cricket, weightlifting... just to be part of building a healthier Nauru is enough. But being a football lover, the best way I know how to have an impact is through football."

Island constraints

Laying foundations is difficult on an island where over-mining has left the landscape looking like a moonscape. Located 2,500 miles north east of Australia, Nauru’s historical wealth came from phosphate deposits from fossilised bird poo. Mining in the late 20th century left large central areas uninhabitable and extremely challenging to farm.

Most of the 12,000-strong population clusters around the coast where usable space is scarce on an island of just 21 square kilometres, an area shrinking further with climate change and rising sea levels.

The barren land means more than 90% of food is imported, much of it processed, contributing to 69% of the population being classed as obese and around 40% having type 2 diabetes.

Sport is a release, but the sport of choice is Aussie rules, played by 30% of locals. Athletics and weightlifting have also seen Olympic representation. Nauru will host the Micronesian Games in 2028, a multi-sport event that includes football.

Building from the ground up

Pomroy, originally from Stevenage, previously set up a charity in Siem Reap, Cambodia that became a professional academy producing 47 players who progressed professionally in Asia, and runs programmes in India.

One of the first challenges in Nauru is getting footballs onto the island. Volunteers have launched a campaign to give every child aged four to 14 a ball – roughly 2,000 children – working with churches and the island’s 11 schools. Balls will be delivered 200 at a time by plane to manage distribution.

Past attempts focused on one-off fixtures. Two years ago former Premier League striker Dave Kitson was appointed to lead 18 Nauruans into a game after a two-week training camp against a Sunday league side from Reading, XL FC. The match never happened for financial reasons.

The ethos has since changed to long-term development.

"Dave Kitson would have gone, I would have gone, and it would have been great for a couple of months, but it's a lot of money," Pomroy said. "Let's start a culture on this island of football or sport and help it grow, because it's an important thing. Let's build the ecosystem, not just one-off games."

"My personal dream is that Nauru's first ever international game is played with all kids that are 18 years old that had been coming through our system."

When Pomroy arrives for a training camp in December he will set up coaching programmes for players and aspiring coaches. Volunteer Tyrone Deiye hopes to use family land to create more pitches beyond the sole dusty phosphate surface, and indoor options are being considered.

Pomroy stresses Nauru Soccer is not trying to "force football down everyone's throat" but to lay a foundation for a sport, promote healthy lifestyles and build communities.

"The life lessons that you learn through football aren't just on the pitch, not just about winning and losing," he said. "It's the friends that you make. It is learning to be humble. It's learning to look after your body. It's learning to get up when you fall down."

"If we sat here in five years' time, I genuinely believe that we will have a senior team that will be filled with 18, 19, 20-year-olds. Then in 20 years' time, someone from Nauru comes up to me and says, 'my life changed through football and the development programme'... That would be the ultimate dream."