Caribbean Football Union

The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is the representative organization for football associations in the Caribbean. It represents 25 FIFA member nations, as well as 6 territories that are not affiliated with FIFA. The Union was established in January 1978 and its member associations compete in the CONCACAF region. The CFU also runs developmental competitions, including the CONCACAF Caribbean Shield and youth challenge series. History The formation of the Caribbean Football Union is credited to former Trinidad and Tobago national footballer Patrick Raymond. In 1976, he approached Phil Woosnam, the Commissioner of the North American Soccer League (NASL), about ownership of a Caribbean franchise within the NASL, and instead, Woosnam proposed the formation of a Caribbean Professional League. Acting on Woosnam's advice, and with assistance from former England player-turned businessman Jimmy Hill and his company World Sports Academy, plus the recommendation of former FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous, that a Caribbean regional governing body as a sub-group within CONCACAF be the first order of business, Raymond introduced the initiative in August 1977 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, that eventually led to the formation of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). The CFU was inaugurated on January 28, 1978, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as the Caribbean region's governing football body and a sub-group within CONCACAF. A previous effort to establish a Caribbean regional governing body was the British Caribbean Football Association (BCFA) in January 1957, with the Trinidad & Tobago FA's President Ken Galt as the BCFA's president, and the TTFA's Secretary Eric James as General Secretary, and in 1959, a representative BCFA team toured the UK.