Carrying on tradition: New head coach hopes to add to UKAF's Kentish Cup winning streak
The UK Armed Forces men's football team have undergone a period of regime change since they took home their second consecutive Kentish Cup title in the Netherlands in 2024.
They have a new head coach in the name of Major Joe Collins, and a new-look squad for this year's tournament with only a handful of returning players from last year.
Maj Collins took over as head coach earlier this year, succeeding Corporal Daryl White, who coached the team to back-to-back Kentish Cup titles between 2023 and 2024.
This year's tournament will be the Army major's first real test in his tenure as head coach, and it will be a relatively young squad that he'll be leading.
"I'm feeling really positive," he said. "We've got a good group of lads that have come in, although we've got a new group as well, we've only got about four or five who've played in the last Kentish [Cup].
"But it's a brilliant opportunity for some of the young lads that we've brought in and some of the young lads that are new to the services – so we're feeling positive and ready to go."
Prior success brings high expectations for a group of players who will be hosting their French and Dutch rivals on home soil in this year's Kentish Cup, but the goal, as far as Maj Collins is concerned, remains unchanged as in previous years.
"Obviously, we want to carry that tradition on, we've done really well with the coach they've had previously and the players," he said.
He continued: "So we want to carry on that tradition, especially on home territory. But at the same time, it's football, we understand that we've got to play and we've got to enjoy the competition.
"We know it's going to be tough, there's going to be two different styles of play that we will play against, so we need to be able to adapt to that.
"Some of the young lads need to take the opportunities they've been given, and step up to that environment and see where they're at, and see how it goes."
Bringing fire and power
The Kentish Cup has long been the penultimate tournament for the UKAF squad, with their recent rivals being from the French and Dutch Armed Forces.
The French last won the Kentish Cup in 2022, whereas the Dutch haven't won the Kentish Cup since 2005.
But despite being the two-time reigning champions, Maj Collins isn't going into this year's tournament underestimating their competition.
He said: "We have a system that we want to play, we know that both of their sides are technically very good and they play slightly different to the way we play in the UK.
"But we want to bring our fire and our power to that game, so let's put them on the back foot at times, let's see what they're about, and we have to be disciplined; it's a different style of football.
"The way they play probably doesn't suit our players at times, with the way we try and be physical around players, but we've also got technically gifted players.
"I believe we've got good runners in this side and that's the way that modern football is going. You need to be able to shift and move, and hopefully with the way that we set up, that will suit our game."
You can follow all of the Kentish Cup action live on the BFBS Forces News YouTube channel. Find out how to watch here.
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