Eriskay's bumpy football pitch wows Fifa

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A football pitch on the Western Isles has been recognised by Fifa as one of eight remarkable places to play the game in the world.

A match played on the field in Eriskay has been filmed for screening in the football governing body's new museum in Zurich in Switzerland.

The Fifa World Football Museum is due to be opened to the public next year.

Eriskay is renowned for a shipwreck that inspired the book and film Whisky Galore.

Eriskay's bumpy football pitch wows Fifa


BBC News
21 May 2015


Fifa designates a pitch on the Isle of Eriskay as one of eight remarkable places to play football in the world




A football pitch on the Western Isles has been recognised by Fifa as one of eight remarkable places to play the game in the world.

A match played on the field in Eriskay has been filmed for screening in the football governing body's new museum in Zurich in Switzerland.

The Fifa World Football Museum is due to be opened to the public next year.

Eriskay is renowned for a shipwreck that inspired the book and film Whisky Galore.

Martin Macaulay, manager of Eriskay FC, told BBC Alba the playing surface was "well bumpy. It's just all over the place.

"One time we had five corners, now we are down to four corners."

But he added: "It is unique with its views of Eriskay. It is a nice place."


A match played at Eriskay has been filmed for screening in Fifa's new museum


The surface of the pitch has been described as "bumpy"


The pitch has a sea view


Eriskay's other claim to fame centres on the SS Politician, which ran aground off the island on 5 February 1941.

Its cargo included more than 250,000 bottles of whisky.

Author Compton MacKenzie used the grounding of the ship as the basis of his book Whisky Galore in 1947, and an Ealing comedy followed in 1949.


FIFA's World Football Museum in Zurich is due to open in early 2016



A scene from the 1949 Ealing Comedy "Whisky Galore!"



Eriskay's bumpy football pitch wows Fifa - BBC News
 
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