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'Virgin derby' footy match will feature forgotten Arsenal star and brickie from Plymouth
It's the dreaded international break – and football fans, looking away from the European friendlies, spotted the 'Virgin derby' which will take place in the sun soaked islands on Friday
International breaks can be boring - especially the ones where most sides are just playing friendlies.
England will play two of them over the next seven days, one against Belgium and the other with Brazil. And it's led to some football fans looking further afar for fixtures.
Cheeky fans on social media spotted the 'Virgin derby', which pits the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory that's part of a volcanic archipelago in the Caribbean, against the US Virgin Islands – a US territory just south of their British counterparts.
The two idyllic Caribbean islands are better known for their sunshine and beaches rather than their footballing acumen. The sun soaked islands are a long way from home for Chris Kiwomya, who is more used to the grey clouds of West Yorkshire.
Born in Huddersfield, Kiwomya is now at the helm of the British Virgin Islands. And a certain vintage of football fan might just recall the name – with Kiwomya once turning out for Ipswich Town, Arsenal and QPR.
Kiwomya was one of George Graham's last signings, alongside John Hartson, when he rocked up to Highbury in 1995. However, in a three-year spell, he made just 14 top flight appearances for the Gunners.
After retiring in 2002, he took tentative steps into management, including singing a young Jack Grealish on loan for Notts County in 2013. However, when he was dismissed by Notts in the same year, he wouldn't return to management until 2021 - when the Caribbean Islands came calling.
Kiwomya will have Taylor Scarff at his disposal for the clash – a brickie from Plymouth.
Scarff, who played for Yeovil and Liverpool in his youth, currently plays non-league football for Tavistock. Speaking to PlymouthLive, he said: "Chris was mustard and you could tell he had been around professional football for however many years.
"He was so spot on with everything and knew what he was talking about. He was a really good bloke... The facilities at the hotel – I can’t fault it, it was top drawer. I stayed in a room that overlooked the sea, we had the pool below us and the food was spot on, really good food.
"We then trained on an AstroTurf, which was good, but it was very hot. We were training in 31 degrees, but I had my sun cream and things, so it wasn’t too ba
“But they absolutely love their football over there. They have a local league and play on Saturdays and Sundays and they play on the same pitch we used. But they are fanatical and absolutely love it.”
In the FIFA rankings, the two sides are currently 207th and 208th respectively – above three sides Anguila (209th), San Marino (210th) and Eritrea (unranked).
Daily Star Sunday
It's the dreaded international break – and football fans, looking away from the European friendlies, spotted the 'Virgin derby' which will take place in the sun soaked islands on Friday
International breaks can be boring - especially the ones where most sides are just playing friendlies.
England will play two of them over the next seven days, one against Belgium and the other with Brazil. And it's led to some football fans looking further afar for fixtures.
Cheeky fans on social media spotted the 'Virgin derby', which pits the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory that's part of a volcanic archipelago in the Caribbean, against the US Virgin Islands – a US territory just south of their British counterparts.
The two idyllic Caribbean islands are better known for their sunshine and beaches rather than their footballing acumen. The sun soaked islands are a long way from home for Chris Kiwomya, who is more used to the grey clouds of West Yorkshire.
Born in Huddersfield, Kiwomya is now at the helm of the British Virgin Islands. And a certain vintage of football fan might just recall the name – with Kiwomya once turning out for Ipswich Town, Arsenal and QPR.
Kiwomya was one of George Graham's last signings, alongside John Hartson, when he rocked up to Highbury in 1995. However, in a three-year spell, he made just 14 top flight appearances for the Gunners.
After retiring in 2002, he took tentative steps into management, including singing a young Jack Grealish on loan for Notts County in 2013. However, when he was dismissed by Notts in the same year, he wouldn't return to management until 2021 - when the Caribbean Islands came calling.
Kiwomya will have Taylor Scarff at his disposal for the clash – a brickie from Plymouth.
Scarff, who played for Yeovil and Liverpool in his youth, currently plays non-league football for Tavistock. Speaking to PlymouthLive, he said: "Chris was mustard and you could tell he had been around professional football for however many years.
"He was so spot on with everything and knew what he was talking about. He was a really good bloke... The facilities at the hotel – I can’t fault it, it was top drawer. I stayed in a room that overlooked the sea, we had the pool below us and the food was spot on, really good food.
"We then trained on an AstroTurf, which was good, but it was very hot. We were training in 31 degrees, but I had my sun cream and things, so it wasn’t too ba
“But they absolutely love their football over there. They have a local league and play on Saturdays and Sundays and they play on the same pitch we used. But they are fanatical and absolutely love it.”
In the FIFA rankings, the two sides are currently 207th and 208th respectively – above three sides Anguila (209th), San Marino (210th) and Eritrea (unranked).
Daily Star Sunday