Football had been part of the Island Games programme following the debut of a senior men's competition at the
1989 Island Games in the Faroe Islands. Previously, a five-a-side youth football tournament was held at the inaugural
games in 1985 held in
Douglas, Isle of Man but football was completely absent from the programme at the
1987 Island Games held in
Guernsey. The
2013 Island Games would be the first held outside of Europe.
Jersey held the record for gold medals having won the men's football tournament three times. The
Isle of Wight were the defending champions after defeating
Guernsey 4–2
after extra time in the gold medal match as hosts at the
2011 Island Games. However, they were unable to defend their title as they did not send a team to the 2013 edition. ==Format==