SKY IS THE LIMIT AT LIONS’ DEN
Islanders Guernsey continue to progress
LAST Saturday, Haywards Heath Town embarked on a 200-mile journey across land and sea to play a Bostik South East match.
No, the Bostik League are not following La Liga’s strategy of playing promotional matches abroad. Instead, the Blues found themselves up against a rather unique side within the Non-League pyramid.
Located just off the French coast, Guernsey FC are the only Channel Island club represented in the English footballing system.
Formed in 2011, the Green Lions began life in the Combined Counties League, before securing back to back promotions in their first two years of existence to reach the Isthmian League.
Since then Guernsey have enjoyed a period of consolidation in Step 4 but the club’s only ever manager Tony Vance believes that further progression could soon be in touching distance.
“The last seven years have really been a remarkable journey and we have made memories that will last a life time” Vance told The NLP.
“The idea of starting an island wide team to compete in England had been talked about for a while but for one reason or another it never seemed to happen.
Insular
“Football on the island used to be rather insular. It was always very competitive but you ended up just playing against the same teams every year and it limited players’ development.
“The catalyst for starting a new club came when the island team won the FA National League System Cup in 2010 and got the chance to represent England in the UEFA Regions Cup.
“We lifted the trophy in front of 2,500 people and it was the first time that an FA competition final had been held outside of the UK mainland.
“That helped us to realise just what a talented group of players we had on the island.
“To begin with the club was a bit like marmite because a lot of the local clubs were unhappy that players had left to play for us.
“However, slowly but surely they began to buy into what we were doing and now the club has managed to galvanise a lot of support on the island, which is fantastic to see.”
Playing in Guernsey brings about a number of logistical challenges, which Vince admits often constrains the club.
“The most obvious difference between us and clubs on the mainland is that we have to fly to every away game, which takes a lot of meticulous planning,” he added.
“Getting players onto the plane is often a difficult task, especially if we are playing in midweek because we then usually have to stay overnight
“For example, we currently have four lads from a scaffolding company in our team and can only take two of them for each away game, which is often a tricky decision!
“When games start getting postponed over the winter, things get even harder.
“During our second season, we found ourselves in an extraordinary situation where we had to play 20 games in 35 days, with the final four matches being played on consecutive days. “We certainly racked up the air miles during those few weeks but it was a really memorable experience, which brought us all together and we managed to win promotion from the Combined Counties Premier Division and reach the FA Vase semi-finals in the process!” The strict residency laws that are currently in place in Guernsey, meaning that Vance is unable to go about his transfer business in a similar fashion to other NonLeague managers at his level.
However, the Green Lions’ boss sees a number of advantages to this.
“There are local licencing laws which stop a lot of people from moving to Guernsey. Often you have to pay an extortionate amount of money or live in a certain kind of house to move here, so bringing in players from the mainland is more or less impossible!” said Vince.
“We currently have one player who doesn’t live here, Jack Stanton, who recently left Bournemouth. He flies over for each home game and we are very fortunate that a local airline has agreed to pay for him to get here.
“There are plenty of positives to our situation though. Most Non-League clubs go through a complete overhaul of their players each summer, whereas we tend to keep a similar group together, which allows us to maintain a level of consistency and bring youngsters from the academy side into the first team.
“The current crop of young players that we have got coming through are really exciting and I am hopeful that they will be capable of taking the club to the next level.”
Much of the logistical planning and preparation that comes with fielding a side in the Non-League pyramid falls to the club’s long serving chairman Mark Le Tissier.
In fact, Le Tissier has even had to call upon the services of his younger brother Matt, with the Guernsey-born Southampton and England legend turning out for the Green Lions during the frantic end to their promotion winning season from the Combined Counties Premier Division in 2013.
Challenges
Chairman Le Tissier explained: “That run of fixtures in 2013 was an absolute nightmare and we all deserved our summer breaks that year!
“Being chairman is a bit of a round the clock job but it is very enjoyable. As soon as the fixtures first get announced I am straight on the phone trying to organise flights.
“The travelling takes a huge financial burden and we also have to pay for our opponents to fly over here.
“It certainly brings about its challenges but it’s been a brilliant eight years and this journey has a long way to go still”. The club are continuing to develop both on and off the field and Le Tissier is keeping his fingers crossed that the green light will soon be given for work to start on the building of a brand new stadium.
Le Tissier added: “We are on tenterhooks at the moment as we are still awaiting a decision on whether it can go ahead but the plan is to build a stadium and a development centre for the academy, which is getting bigger and bigger every year.
“We will be able to derive an income from the bar at the new stadium, which will provide a welcome boost to the club’s finances.
“We are still an amateur club at the moment but hopefully the new stadium will help us to progress forwards both on and off the pitch.
“The future is bright for Guernsey and I want us to make more and more headlines within English football over the next few years!”
“GETTING TO BOARD PLAYERS IS OFTEN A PLANE – ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT MIDWEEK IN STAY AS OVERNIGHT” WE – Tony Vance Guernsey boss