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In 1985, on a small island 45 kilometers from the Cornwall Peninsula in the southwest of England, Roy Duncan, the local parliament chairman and historian, decided to write a letter to the Dutch Embassy.

After receiving the letter, the Dutch side searched through a lot of information and finally confirmed one thing: in the spring of 1651, the then Dutch Empire declared war on the islands, and in theory the war was still going on. On April 17, 1986, the Dutch embassy returned a visit to the islands, and the peace treaty was finally signed, marking the end of this 335-year "war".

Interestingly, this war, which ranks second in the longest time in world history, did not cause any casualties, and neither side even fired a single bullet. No wonder even the Dutch, who declared the war, almost forgot about it.

But people soon discovered that the other side of the war, the Isles of Scilly, had been shrouded in the smoke of war for nearly a hundred years. The world's smallest football league, consisting of only two teams, Garrison Gunners and Woolpack Wanderers, had seen a significant increase in the number of yellow cards in recent years.

From October of each year until Easter of the following year, weather permitting, the two teams will meet at Garrison Stadium on St. Mary's Island every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. to play.

Of the more than 140 islands in the Scilly Isles, only five are inhabited. Before the 1950s, there were four teams in the league, but due to the gradual loss of population, it was eventually reduced to its maximum size. Today, most of the residents of the Scilly Isles live on the 6 square kilometer island of St. Mary, with a population of about 2,000.

Of course, both the Garrison Gunners and the Woolpack Rovers are on St. Mary's Island. Will Lethbridge, who grew up on the island and played in the Isles of Scilly League for many years, knows that many people are curious about everything here.

"It's probably a bit ridiculous, like the old British saying, 'Can we play you every week?'" In the UK, whenever one team wins a big game against another team (especially a long-time rival), the fans of the winning team usually sing this song after the game.

“People might ask if it’s a bit boring to play two teams back and forth, but it’s nice to run around and it’s fun. Many of us are old friends who have known each other since primary school, so it’s a competition as well as a social event.During the game, the other side is very clear about each player's dominant foot and technical characteristics, such as who likes to cut inside and who likes to turn with the ball. Because everyone knows each other, there will be some seemingly fierce tackles. "

"Sporadic conflicts in the game are always inevitable, but the friction between the two teams is limited to the field. When the final whistle blows, those slightly rough actions will be forgiven. Fighting does not exist here."

If you want to go to the Isles of Scilly from the UK mainland, apart from the more luxurious way of taking a helicopter, the only route is to take a ship from Penzance, which is known as the "End of the World" in the UK. However, due to frequent storms and foggy weather, it is almost impossible for a team to accurately predict the arrival time when going to the Isles of Scilly to participate in the game. Therefore, although the Isles of Scilly League is affiliated to the English Football Association, the two teams on the islands are not in the pyramid system of the English Football Association, and therefore cannot participate in the FA Cup.

But it is precisely this isolation that allows the Isles of Scilly League to maintain full institutional autonomy: even with only two teams, they can still do something great.

Before the start of each season, all the players who are about to participate in the league will gather at a local bar, where they will first vote for two captains, and then the two captains will select their respective team lineups like the NBA draft. The captains will take turns selecting until all the players confirm their affiliation.

There is also a thoughtful detail: the order of captain selection is kept strictly confidential, and no player knows in which round they were selected. The reason for doing this is obvious: they are all neighbors on the island, and no one wants to be the one "left over."

Under such a draft system, the Isles of Scilly League retains freshness to the greatest extent. From the perspective of the players, the probability of playing for the same team for several consecutive years is very low, so it is not easy to develop a home team complex. What's more, on this island, a home team complex is really unnecessary.

If everything goes well, there will be no significant difference in strength between the two teams selected by the captains of both teams in turn, but there are times when the balance suddenly tilts:

"In 2023, a key player of the Garrison Gunners originally planned to stay here for the whole winter, but later he found a job in the Swiss Alps, and the Gunners suddenly lost their star. This kind of situation will happen, such as someone getting injured or someone taking leave, but the league will usually slowly restore its balance. For example, after winning two or three games in a row, some players can't play, and then quickly lose two or three games."

In recent years, the Isles of Scilly League has also encountered some difficulties, mainly due to insufficient player reserves: once one side cannot gather a complete starting lineup for a game, they either have to temporarily recruit non-staff players or postpone the game.

The shortage of players in the league is reflected in statistics: the population of the Isles of Scilly has fallen by 6.8% since 2011, which is directly related to the educational environment on the islands: native-born children usually move to the nearest Cornwall peninsula to continue their studies when they turn 16, and only some of them return to the islands after completing their studies.

"We lose about six kids every year," said club president Anthony Gibbons, who was also worried about the "team's population problem." "About five or six years ago, we only had enough players to play eight-a-side because we didn't have enough players. Fortunately, we added 5-6 players later, but we may be left without anyone one day."

Today, the average age of the island's population has risen from 46 a few years ago to 50, so that there are still quite a few players born in the 1970s in the league, and the record-breaking player is already over 70. Of course, the wide age span is not a problem for the islanders. Anyone who meets the competition age will be invited to participate in the event as long as they move to the island.

However, even if both sides successfully put together the starting lineup, unexpected situations may still occur at any time - almost all participating players have their own jobs, especially police and firefighters, who may need to be on duty on Sundays, and often a phone call can call them off the court.

Gibbons mentioned an interesting story: "A few years ago, there was a farmer in the team, I forgot whether his name was Dave Mumford or Chafer. During the halftime break, his cell phone rang and someone said, 'Hey! Your cow ran away.' He hurried home to find the cow. We were leading 2-0 at halftime, but we had to play with 10 people in the second half and eventually lost 2-3. What's even funnier is that we finally found out that the lost cow was not theirs."

Even if there are various emergencies, the Isles of Scilly League will insist on completing 18 games each season. In addition, they even have two cup competitions to play: the Wholesalers Cup and the Foredeck Cup.Both cup competitions are standard home and away two-legged systems (although there is only one venue) and there is no away goals rule.

Every Christmas Day, the island will hold a grand "Veterans vs. Rookies" exhibition match. For the islanders, this game, which is similar to the Charity Shield, is like a holiday. In one exhibition match, Hicks, the captain of the Garrison Gunners, ushered in the highlight of his football career.

The 42-year-old shipbuilder was excited when talking about the goal:"In that game, the veterans' team lost 1-7 to the youngsters, but I scored the only goal for the team. It was a hook, just like the one Ronaldo scored against Juventus!"Hicks has made 150 appearances and scored 160 goals in the past 15 years, a goal efficiency that is also at the level of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The joy of the Isles of Scilly League is not isolated at sea. Every September, the Maldemer Sports Club comes to the island from the British mainland for exchanges. In addition to football, it also includes darts, rowing, beach volleyball and other sports. "Maldemer" literally translates to "seasickness" in French.

In 2023, the Lyonnes Cup, a symbol of cross-sea exchanges, will make a strong return: this is a semi-regular event. Since its establishment in 2012, there were originally 6 teams participating. Later, it was changed to a one-match match between the champion of the Isles of Scilly League and the local amateur team Dynamo Choughs in Penzance.

A player from the Dynamo Choughs team has superb craftsmanship and specially made the "world's smallest trophy" for this event: it is 1 cm high and only 6 mm thick.The novelty of the silverware caught the attention of FIFA, and a replica of the trophy is now on display at the official museum in Zurich.

The world's smallest trophy is only 1 cm high

"FIFA told us that this cup would be great in their museum, and they still keep it now," said Gibbons, the club's president. Such a miniature trophy does not affect the sense of ceremony after winning the championship. "Even though the cup is only 1 cm high, the winning team will still find a way to pour a little beer into it."

In February 2023, Gibbons and club secretary general Matt Simmons were invited to visit the Zurich headquarters as VIPs and signed an agreement to display the trophy in the museum for another five years. Gibbons smiled and explained why the surface of the trophy had a slight dent: "Once on the return bus, the trophy accidentally fell to the ground."

After the visit, Gibbons presented two jerseys to the museum on behalf of the team. Giving jerseys is a necessary step every time the island hosts reporters or TV crews from around the world.

The islanders are used to this kind of attention from the outside world. After all, tourism itself is a pillar industry on the island. In fact, Gibbons's current position as the club's chairman is also related to an "adventure" many years ago.

In 2007, Adidas planned an advertisement called "Dream Big": Beckham, Gerrard, Vieira, Ballack and others came to the Scilly Isles. In addition to playing with young players on the island, there were also shots of them eating fish and chips on the beach.

"Someone on the island called the press to say Beckham was coming, so a group of helicopters rushed over, but Beckham had already left due to schedule reasons. The TV station needed to reshoot a shot, and I was arranged to be Beckham's stand-in," Gibbons recalled. "This is also the reason why I became famous on the island later. I think it's always a good thing to expose this small island."

In 2019, Vodafone, the telecommunications giant that has sponsored Manchester United for many years, tailored a league system for the Isles of Scilly: FAR (Fans Assistant Referee). All residents on the island can use this 5G video review system to vote online in real time on whether controversial decisions in the league need to be changed.

So despite playing the same opponent at the same time and place, the world's smallest league does not seem boring. Hicks, who scored a Ronaldo-style overhead kick, said: "Without football, everything is boring. I hope my wife doesn't hear this, but football means everything to me."

Hicks left the league for a short time, but now he is back: "As long as I can hold on, I will continue to play football. It would be great if I could step onto the Garrison Stadium with my son one day."

Hicks' son is 6 years old this year, so this dad will probably have to play for another ten years.