Football: Bass jnr. confirms training squad for men's national side

Thirty-six players called up ahead of upcoming 2026 fixtures

Isle of Man men's national football team manager, Chris Bass jnr., has confirmed his training squad for upcoming fixtures in 2026.

A total of 36 players have been called up and this marks the first stage of the team's three-year 'Road to Gold' campaign running up to the 2029 International Island Games being hosted here.

Before then, the team faces a number of matches later this year, with the first of those being a friendly tie against Halewood Apollo at The Bowl in Douglas on Saturday, 2 May at 5pm.

They'll also take part in a 'triangular tournament' on Manx shores in July with further details still to be announced.

Speaking on his selected squad, Bass jnr. says: "Choosing a 36 man training squad is very deliberate. The Island’s talent pool is strong and we want to give every player who is performing the opportunity to train together and be part of the National team. 

"The numbers give real competition for places, let us assess different systems and manages training load."

Separately, Matthew Woods and Rick Holden have been announced as members of the team's coaching staff.

Looking ahead, Bass jnr. adds: "July will be a crucial month, with fixtures giving us the chance to experiment tactically and see how players respond to tournament football.

We have the Faroe Islands 2027 to prepare for and then the Isle of Man hosted Games in 2029 where our ambition is to win the Gold Medal on home soil."

You can view the full Isle of Man men's national team training squad below:

2026 Isle of Man men's national football team training squad

Harry Best (FC Isle of Man)
Mark Blair (FC Isle of Man)
Tomas Brown (Peel)
Jamie Cadwallader (Rushen United)
Josh Cain (FC Isle of Man)
James Callow (Onchan)
Jamie Callister (Ayre United)
Jason Charmer (Peel)
Connor Clark (Corinthians) 
Karl Clark (FC Isle of Man)
Beren Colley (Corinthians)
Tom Creer (Onchan)
Jacob Crook (FC Isle of Man)
Owen Dawson (Peel)
Sean Doyle (Corinthians)
Lee Gale (Peel)
Sam Gelling (FC Isle of Man)
Danny Gerrard (FC Isle of Man)
Ethan Hawley (Laxey)
Charlie Higgins (FC Isle of Man)
Tyler Hughes (Union Mills)
Shaun Kelly (FC Isle of Man)
Ethan Leivers (Onchan)
Adam Killey (FC Isle of Man)
Alex Maitland (FC Isle of Man)
Joao Marques (FC Isle of Man)
Finn O'Donaghue (Peel)
Dean Pinnington (FC Isle of Man)
Ryan Quigley (Ramsey Youth Centre & Old Boys)
Callum Sherry (FC Isle of Man)
Dan Simpson (Corinthians)
Ben Sturgeon (Peel)
Kyle Watson (FC Isle of Man)
Ben Wilkinson (St Mary's)
Michael Williams (FC Isle of Man)
Ste Whitley (FC Isle of Man)