BEWARE! THE BULLS ARE COMING?
A SECOND Channel Islands team this week launched a bid to join the English pyramid.
Newly-formed Jersey Bulls aim to follow in the footsteps of sister island team Guernsey, who joined the Combined Counties League Division One in 2011.
Jersey Bulls want to enter enter the same league, two steps below where Guernsey currently compete, starting next season.
Claiming ministerial backing, the new club are spearheaded by former Muratti player Russell Le Feuvre and have applied to enter Combined Counties League One from 2019/2020 – two divisions below where Guernsey currently find themselves after seven years of competition against mainland opposition
Le Feuvre, who teaches at the island’s Les Quennevais School, and is director of operations of Jersey Bulls, said: “It would be the first time a Jersey football club has competed in the English leagues and represents an exciting new challenge for the island’s top players whilst offering a pathway for juniors progressing through Jersey football.”
The club’s name has been chosen to represent the island’s dairy farming heritage.
Senator Steve Pallett, Jersey’s Assistant Economic Development Minister with responsibility for sport has said: “This proposal, which I wholeheartedly support, would provide a programme of regular matches that senior players have been in need of for many years and also give developing young talent a new opportunity outside of the Muratti and Island Games fixtures which remain highlights of our current sporting calendar.
“I wish Jersey Bulls every success both in their application and when they finally take the field!” The Bulls would, as has been in the case of Guernsey, have to meet the expenses for all clubs visiting the island as well as meeting their own travelling costs to the mainland. Last season, Guernsey’s total travel bill was reported as being in excess of £125,000. Le Feuvre said that the club already has a strong financial team in place and much sponsorship support had already been attracted.