It`s hard running a national football team drawn from a windswept archipelago, marooned halfway between Scotland and Iceland, with a population that  does not succeed 50,000. Welcome to the Faroe Islands, a part of the Kingdom of Denmark but far from a footballing hotbed.

The Faroe Islands gained membership of both UEFA and FIFA in 1988 and is regarded as one of the weakest members of both. The national team`s history dates back to 1930, however they were not recognised by FIFA or UEFA then, and the official birth of football in the Faroes came in 1988.

They defied belief in their first ever competitive match, beating Austria 1-0 in a Euro 92 qualifier. With the draw for the Euro 2012 qualifiers just made, hope may spring eternal for the Faroese  who have managed only one other European Championship qualifying victory,  which was a 3-0 home win over San Marino in 1995.

The Faroese have participated in World Cup qualifiers since 1992. During that campaign the tiny Nordic nation amassed no points. As qualification for France 98 dawned, perhaps performances would improve and while they did , it was nothing  to boast about. The proud achievements of the Faroese in this campaign were two solid 2-1 victories over Malta.

Arguably the qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup was where they earned some respect, by beating Luxembourg twice and drawing with Slovenia. Embarrassment followed as a 2-2 draw away to Cyprus was their only credible result on the road to the 2006 World Cup.

A one all draw with Austria in October 2008 gave the Faroes under the management of Jogvan Martin Olsen, their first qualification point in four years.  Prior to his decision to step down, they also beat Iceland for the first time ever, persevering with a 2-1 win in a friendly.

Fortunes are however turning under Irishman Brian Kerr. The former Republic of Ireland manager saw enough as he observed the Faroese push Italy all the way in a Euro 2008 qualifier, only to lose 2-1. On April  5th 2009 Kerr was installed as manager and his impact thus far has been solid. It didn’t take him long to get up and running, and after eight years without a win, he guided the Faroese to a 2-1 victory over Lithuania in a World Cup qualifier.

The draw for the Euro 2012 qualifiers pits Kerr`s men against World Champions Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia and Estonia in Group C.  Kerr is looking forward to taking on the reigning world champions, who may or may not still hold that title when they visit the Faroese capital Torshavn “The Faroes played the Italians two competitions back and did reasonably well. They ran Italy close and scored in both games. I`m looking forward to playing Italy. There are plusses-the travelling isn’t very difficult and commercially, having Italy,  is important”.

The Italians wont be the only threat to the Faroese and this is something Kerr, a figure Irish football will deeply miss, knows. Kerr brought the only international success to Ireland, before he rose to prominence as senior manager. He guided the Irish to an unprecedented double of winning the  under-16 and under-18 European Championship in 1998. He was keen to talk up the stern test that the Slovenians will provide “it wont be easy football wise. They were the outstanding team in the fourth pot”.

Kerr`s first match as Faroese manager was a two nil defeat against Serbia, who he will renew hostilities with. He is somewhat disappointed having to face them again “They`re a good side and I know them well. I must admit my disappointment at drawing them as they might be the best team in the second pot. They were very good last time around although we gave them good games.”

Kerr is looking forward to ties with Northern Ireland and Estonia, especially the former as  his father was born there. The Irishman is well aware of what goals he has and how he can achieve them. As one of the six nations in the bottom seeds, he is aiming to emulate Liechtenstein who have played their way into the next pot up “The target would be to be in the second lowest pot next time around. To do that will be hard, but I feel we can build on the last qualifiers where we won a game and pushed France hard at home”.

“The under 21`s have got eight points so far so we have the promise of some good players coming thorugh” said Kerr, who is all to aware of managing youth having harnessed the likes of Robbie Keane and Damien Duff before they became the talents they are today.