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View Full Version : Guernsey 'Greens' - Fixture Congestion



Keith_M
31-05-2013, 10:46 AM
No, not a thread about Hibs fans in the channel islands, this is about the football team Guernsey FC. I was reading about them in a German football magazine (11 Freunde, a bit like Four Four Two) and thought this would be interesting.

Article (http://www.11freunde.de/artikel/der-amateurklub-fc-guernsey-hat-17-spiele-29-tagen) (German only, sorry)


Firstly, they're a relatively new club, formed in 2011. They played last season in the 9th tier of English Football but in front of crowds very rarely below the 1,000 mark and going up to over 4,000 for one match. This is in a league where a couple of hundred is considered a decent crowd. They consider themselves to be a club 'run for the benefit of the local Guernsey community'. I'm not sure if there's a connection with Hibs but this is their home strip


10055


The part that most interested me was their fixture list. As you can imagine, travelling is a bit of a problem for a team so far away from the other clubs so they have to group fixtures into a few days. Their end of season schedule (http://www.guernseyfc.com/matches-fixtures-and-results)was four home games on consecutive days from Friday to Monday and they won the lot! In April, they played 17 games in 29 days.

So much for tired players having to fit three fixtures into one week :greengrin

CyberSauzee
31-05-2013, 11:05 AM
They were promoted last season from the Combined Counties League IIRC, and are now in the Ryman League Division 1 South for next season. For purposes of travel to and from Guernsey their 'home' pitch is treated as Gatwick Airport. Teams playing away at Guernsey must meet the expense of travelling to Gatwick, then Guernsey pay for a party of up to 23 players and officials to travel over.

It will still be chaotic next season as they will have to play some midweek matches at some point as there are only so many Saturdays in each league season. Watch this space to see what happens...

CyberSauzee
31-05-2013, 11:07 AM
I would add the reason for the fixture pile up last season for them wasn't so much snow and ice but fog bound Channel Islands. not sure if this is a regular occurrence every spring?

iwasthere1972
31-05-2013, 11:16 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDbEWf-YiKg

So rich that they can afford to dry the pitch by helicoptor. :agree:

Lived there for 25 years but left before the team was formed otherwise I would have gone along and supported them. Matt Le Tissier - legend. Managed to get his autograph on a cross channel ferry on my way back from Euro96. He signed it for my wife who I've since :bye: goodbye to. Rather than waste the autograph I cut her name off and kept it for myself. :greengrin

iwasthere1972
31-05-2013, 11:25 AM
I would add the reason for the fixture pile up last season for them wasn't so much snow and ice but fog bound Channel Islands. not sure if this is a regular occurrence every spring?

A regular occurrence when I lived there. Seemed to strike at the busiest times like weekends during July and August when the island had most tourists arriving and departing. Worked on a hotel reception and would say goodbye to the guests knowing full well that they would be coming back in about 8 hours after sitting up the airport watching fog. :greengrin

macca70
31-05-2013, 12:24 PM
No, not a thread about Hibs fans in the channel islands, this is about the football team Guernsey FC. I was reading about them in a German football magazine (11 Freunde, a bit like Four Four Two) and thought this would be interesting.

Article (http://www.11freunde.de/artikel/der-amateurklub-fc-guernsey-hat-17-spiele-29-tagen) (German only, sorry)


Firstly, they're a relatively new club, formed in 2011. They played last season in the 9th tier of English Football but in front of crowds very rarely below the 1,000 mark and going up to over 4,000 for one match. This is in a league where a couple of hundred is considered a decent crowd. They consider themselves to be a club 'run for the benefit of the local Guernsey community'. I'm not sure if there's a connection with Hibs but this is their home strip


10055


The part that most interested me was their fixture list. As you can imagine, travelling is a bit of a problem for a team so far away from the other clubs so they have to group fixtures into a few days. Their end of season schedule (http://www.guernseyfc.com/matches-fixtures-and-results)was four home games on consecutive days from Friday to Monday and they won the lot! In April, they played 17 games in 29 days.

So much for tired players having to fit three fixtures into one week :greengrin

There main problem that caused there fixture congestion was due to there waterlogged pitch throughout December. I was down visiting girlfriends family over Chrimbo and New Year. I was hoping to catch a game but they were all postponed. Also, they had a cracking run in the FA Vase which lead to a few league games being postponed.

The pitch at Footes Lane doesn't handle heavy rain too well.

There schedule throughout April was ridiculous. Some weekends playing Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

They finished 2nd in there league and have gained promotion for next season. They had to join the English leagues fr the bottom so working there way up through the leagues and will probably soon find there level unless they go full time which would require a cash injection.

There's loads of money down there so wouldn't surprise me if someone did decide to put some money into them. Someone loaned them there private Helicopter not so long ago in an attempt to try dry out the pitch.

1 of the conditions of joining the English leagues was that they have to pay for the visiting teams flights over.

For a team so far down the leagues, they have a great set up. They have an App set up with all the info and fans forums. They also offer the faculty to subscribe to watch all there games live online.

CyberSauzee
31-05-2013, 12:31 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDbEWf-YiKg

So rich that they can afford to dry the pitch by helicoptor. :agree:

Lived there for 25 years but left before the team was formed otherwise I would have gone along and supported them. Matt Le Tissier - legend. Managed to get his autograph on a cross channel ferry on my way back from Euro96. He signed it for my wife who I've since :bye: goodbye to. Rather than waste the autograph I cut her name off and kept it for myself. :greengrin

:greengrin I love your 'green' credentials :wink: