In April, we reported on the news that Guernsey FC, a startup club with a difference, had been granted entry into the English National League System by the Football Association and was awaiting confirmation from the Combined Counties League that it would be permitted to participate this season. Since then, everything seems to have gone smoothly. CCL ratification was indeed forthcoming, and the team’s main sponsor was confirmed - as expected - to be Sportingbet.
To recap: Guernsey is a new club anchored by the Guernsey Football Association and designed to offer the best players on the island a high level of competition over and above the Muratti and the Island Games. The possibility has been on the table for some time, and the GFA has bitten the bullet with an ambitious and exciting plan that, I believe, can only be viable if the intention is to move up as far as the Conference. The obvious questions - who pays for Guernsey to travel to away games, and who pays for the other teams to visit Guernsey - were quickly answered with little fuss: Guernsey, backed by Sportingbet, will be paying for all travel.
How long that remains sustainable, and what happens when that generosity expires (not that there’s any indication that it will), will be a fascinating future development. Likewise, the recruitment model will be a thread to watch. With huge travel commitments required, the Green Lions intend to use a larger than usual squad, spreading the burden as long midweek journeys take their toll. The players will continue to play for their Division One sides in Guernsey.
The island’s representative manager, Tony Vance, was drafted in as GFC’s inaugural head coach, and has set about building the side he hopes will be capable of showcasing the very best of Guernsey football. The 41-year-old knows the island’s game inside out, having played much of his career there and featured in 19 Muratti matches and no fewer than six Island Games, to varying levels of success. Vance’s appointment demonstrates amply that Guernsey FC, though it is a club team in English league terms, is very much a team for the island.
In June, Vance’s first signing was North defender Sam Cochrane, also the captain of the island’s representative side. Cochrane is a long-time advocate of the GFC concept and appears to have lofty ambitions for the Green Lions:
“This is a fantastic challenge for us and we will rise to it. We all want to raise our game and nothing could be better than playing in a big game in front of a big crowd down at Footes Lane. We know that Guernsey people will really get behind the team and that will be tremendous motivation for us to deliver on the pitch.”
News of Cochrane’s commitment to the club came hot on the heels of the announcement of Guernsey’s successful application to play in Combined Counties League Division One (in the English pyramid’s tenth tier, Step 6 in non-league) against the likes of Cobham, Frimley Green and Spelthorne Sports. Modest beginnings, perhaps, but a necessary starting point against clubs that have been overwhelmingly welcoming. At the same time, the club confirmed that its main sponsor would indeed be Sportingbet, a surprise to nobody but a deal that still begs plenty of questions and yet gives the club a stable start to an exciting adventure.
On 8th July, Vance announced a whole wave of new signings all from the same source; with Guernsey winning the silver medal at the Island Games (they were beaten 4-2 in the final by hosts the Isle of Wight), the entire squad was snapped up for the Green Lions. The coach also reinforced his Guernsey-for-Guernsey stance on importing players, stating that, “This is about people who live or work in Guernsey. These are players over here, people I know, people who’ve played for the Guernsey national team for years.” Those players are the ones that Vance and the GFA want to reward with a better football future, and it’s difficult not to wish them well in that quest.
It began with a high-profile and dramatic friendly against the Football League’s newest side, AFC Wimbledon, at Footes Lane. With the Dons having started from modest and re-planted roots and worked their way into the League in just a few short years, the Guernsey establishment felt it was a fitting start to life; there won’t be many games as exciting as the Green Lions 6-5 defeat to Terry Brown’s side, but it hit the headlines and that’s exactly what the club needs at this stage. The honour of first goalscorer for the club went to Ryan Zico-Black, who scored a free kick past Wimbledon goalkeeper Jack Turner.
A visit from a developmental Bristol City squad was dealt with ruthlessly by Guernsey’s attack. Another goal from Zico-Black, a first for Dave Rihoy, an own goal and a hat-trick from Ross Allen (one of island football’s leading lights and a vocal supporter of Project GFC) took the side to a comfortable 6-0 win at Footes Lane. Their first away game, against Horley Town, was less successful. Allen gave them the lead after just under half an hour, but the Combined Counties Premier side came back to win 3-1, sending the Green Lions into their first season on the back of a loss.
The season proper begins tomorrow with a home match against Knaphill, a club that has made all the right noises about spoiling the party but in actuality will surely experience a thrilling and fascinating afternoon. The game kicks off at 1pm at Footes Lane, and Guernsey will be expecting a bumper crowd. The first test of Vance and his team’s travelling mettle comes on Tuesday, when a visit to Hartley Wintney kicks off an epic season of travel.
By the time Staines Lammas come to town on 7th April, we’ll know much more about how this project will work out, and where its future lies. We’ll know whether it’s proved viable, and we’ll have a better idea of whether the club’s ascent - presumably a central ambition of the GFA - will be fast, gradual or even happen at all. Who knows, we might even have to start asking the leagues that operate at Steps 3 and 4 for their views on a future GFC application.
guernsey will be very competitive and should be in the top four