The Isle of Man FA’s men’s representative team will play a fixture on home soil for the first time since September 2019 on Saturday teatime.

Chris Bass Jr’s side will take on Liverpool County Premier League outfit Halewood Apollo in a friendly at 5pm, marking the squad’s first game at the Bowl since a 2-1 defeat by Cheshire in the Inter-League Cup.

Since then the side’s outings have been limited to the Island Games in Guernsey and Orkney and two friendlies off-island last summer against this weekend’s opponents and North Wales outfit Trearrdyr Bay.

The game kick-starts the squad’s preparations for next summer’s Island Games in the Faroe Islands and, looking further ahead, the 2029 Games here in the island.

Manager Bass Jr explained: ‘There is a huge amount of talented footballers here and a big pool to pick from, which made it very difficult to select a match day squad.

‘Myself and the coaching team of Matthew Woods, Rick Holden, Frank Jones and Jay Gandy have worked hard to put together a squad we really believe can challenge for that gold medal.

‘It’s also a squad that shows commitment, enthusiasm and pride in representing the Isle of Man.

‘There has been a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes to bring this men’s team back to forefront of Manx football and to reinvigorate a sense of community and national pride in our representative sides.

‘This weekend’s game is the first of four games this summer with further friendlies planned which include a triangular tournament here in July.’

Having named a 36-man training in early April, Bass Jr and his coaches have whittled that down to a matchday 19.

Ten of that number have played for FC Isle of Man in the North West County Premier League this season, including top scorer Charlie Higgins and goalkeepers Mark Blair and Adam Killey.

The rest of the selection is made up of those players that have impressed in the domestic game, among them Peel hot-shot Tomas Brown who has plundered 50 goals for the top-flight champions elect so far this campaign.

Newcomers to the squad include Ramsey’s Preston Cleator, Onchan’s James Callow, Peel’s Ben Sturgeon, Corinthians’ Beren Colley and Jimmy Lowther of Division Two Pulrose United.

Isle of Man squad: Mark Blair, Tomas Brown, James Callow, Jamie Callister, Jason Charmer, Conor Clark, Beren Colley, Preston Cleator, Jacob Crook, Charlie Higgins, Ethan Hawley, Shaun Kelly, Adam Killey, Jimmy Lowther, Joao Marques, Dean Pinnington, Calum Sherry, Ben Sturgeon and Kyle Watson.

- The Isle of Man FA’s women’s side are back in action next weekend, May 9, when they head off island to play Preston North End in a friendly.

The following week North West Regional League side FC United of Manchester head to the island for a friendly at the Bowl on May 16. That game kicks off at

These will act as preparation ahead of a trip to Guernsey in June to compete in the latest Cherry Godfrey Cup where the Manx will hope to retain the trophy they won in 2024.