Micronation off English coast has its own American football team

As a former World War Two sea fort, it is used to crashing waves, bitter winds and passing ships.

What you are less likely to associate with the Principality of Sealand, a self-declared state 12km (eight miles) off the Essex and Suffolk coast, is an American football team.

For Sealand Seahawks, every match is an away fixture.

Since this "micronation" has a surface area of just 0.4 hectares (one acre), there is no room for a pitch.

In fact, its land is solely contained to a former anti-aircraft platform in the North Sea, lived on by up to 300 Royal Navy personnel at the height of World War Two.

It laid abandoned until a former British Army major Roy Bates occupied it in 1966, proclaiming himself king and giving birth to the micronation of today.

Today it is ruled by his son, Prince Michael.

So how does this solitary, blasted-looking structure even have a sports team?

Those logistics were all figured out in a Belfast bar back in 2021.

"I was a few Guinnesses deep and I came up with this great idea," says Mike Ireland, the team's founder.

He had come across Sealand when purchasing his dad a lordship online as a joke.

"I said 'Let's represent this micronation that my dad is a lord of', so I approached Sealand's royal family.

"I don't think they took me very seriously at first."

Mr Ireland, 42, has played American football since 2005, representing Chester and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

He managed to "cobble together 50 lads" for Sealand's first game, getting the micronation's backing after initial doubts.

"No-one thought it was going to be a serious event, but if someone says I can't do something, I'm going to do it," explains the police officer, who lives in Cornwall but grew up in the north-west of England.

The team's one-off matches, which take place against domestic sides, raise money for charity and empower both women and older players to lace up their boots.

"We have lads in their 50s who are just happy to carry on playing; I want to make this accessible for everybody," says Mr Ireland.

The Seahawks also have a "nationals" side, full of promising young players ready to make a name for themselves.

Their lack of home ground is used by Mr Ireland as an excuse to travel, with the side's escapades including trips to grounds across the UK and overseas - as well as a Popworld nightclub.

"Our most recent game was in Leicester, but we also play regularly in Bristol and Milton Keynes," Mr Ireland says.

"In fact, in Milton Keynes we have a scary good relationship with the local Popworld, as we all love dancing to Abba and drinking cocktails."

About 200 people have signed up so far, from "superstar quarterbacks" to players in their 50s wanting to "prat about".

Players are only signed if they are recommended by those already involved, and there is just one rule: "Don't be an idiot."

Mr Ireland explains: "If you recommend someone and they're an idiot, then they get kicked out and you get kicked out for recommending them. It keeps people honest, I find."

To date, only a few people have been shown the door.

Even the ruler of Sealand has got in on the antics.

"Prince Michael came out to Palma to watch the nationals," Mr Ireland recalls. "He got on the beers with the boys and he had a grand old time.

"The [Bates] family are fully on board now. At first they weren't sure what to make of it, but now they realise it's a bit of a laugh; a bit of a giggle."

Mr Ireland admits his passion for the "teeny, tiny micronation" splits opinion.

"It falls into two sides. There's the people who go 'That's really nice; it's lovely' and then there's the people who say 'It's just a jolly on the beers'," he says.

"But I live and breathe it. I'm proud that I can do something to give back, as American football has been great to me.

"I can now do something nice for other people, giving them the chance to play overseas and introducing them to people they'd never have met otherwise."

Yet despite his impressive patriotism, Mr Ireland has yet to set foot on the rusting country he proudly represents.

It is a dream he hopes one day will be realised.

"Otherwise I'll just swim there, and maybe they'll chuck me a rope," he says.

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