FDO is happy to 'build the family of football'

PHIL CORBET was born under the Gemini star sign. And right now he is the split personality of Guernsey football. Under pressure and reportedly a little disillusioned in his role as island coach, Corbet's infectious enthusiasm and unrelenting motivation for his day job as the island's first football development officer remain undimmed.

He was appointed FDO a year ago this week. It was a step in the dark for the Guernsey Football Association, which struggled to find the right applicant and was eventually forced to entrust the island boss with an unusual dual role.

The jury is still out on whether Corbet's FDO business has impinged on his duties as island coach. However, his commitment to his £24,000-a-year full-time post and his determination to drive through the Football Association's ambitious programme of development suggests that the GFA made the right appointment 12 months ago.

But is it really all worth it? Does Guernsey need an FDO? Is Corbet really inspiring a transformation in the island's foremost amateur sport?

'Perhaps a few people were dubious and questioned what development in football was all about,' he admitted.

'But it's important that Guernsey football takes what it can. The FA's initiatives aren't perfect because the FA doesn't have a monopoly of football wisdom. But we can establish a foundation and build a base and, ultimately, we will reap what we sow.

'One year on and Guernsey is on the way to having a thriving girls' football base, we're taking forward over-age football, the number of coaching courses being put on regularly is increasing and we've got three FA chartered clubs and schools with several more in the pipeline.'

When I interviewed Corbet this time last year, he told me that development was about 'quantity and quality'.

Twelve months in the job have taught him that development as the FA sees it has little to do with quality.

'What we're doing today will, in my opinion, increase the number of people playing football in the future. Our sport's base is growing.

'But the only way quality will improve is if people running clubs give time and money to playing off the island or bringing off-island players over here. Perhaps a Channel Islands league would be the best way of doing that.

'The big difference between football's development officer and the development officers in most other sports is that nearly all of the others are working with the elite in their sports. That's what their sports want them to do.

'But development in football is removed from that. I'm targeting the base and extending the family of football. It's about working with the community as a whole and giving every player the opportunity to get to where they aspire to be.'

Football, or more particularly the FA, has made a mistake in that respect. Targeting minorities, building 'the family of football' and spreading the game's gospel are lofty ideals, but quality is even more important than quantity.

I suspect that several GFA luminaries agree. If they were paying an FDO themselves, they would probably want him to focus more on coaching and pushing forward the elite in every age group. But Corbet's hands are tied. His salary is being paid by the FA and he won't deviate from his employers' philosophy.

Corbet and development might be construed as strange bedfellows. His teams have usually been more brawn than brilliance, more functional than flair, but he's on-message alright. And he's convinced that he's making a positive difference.

'I didn't expect to be a hands-on coach. That's not what the job is about, although I've done a bit more coaching than I expected.

'But I'll give you an example of the development that we're aiming for. There was an over-35s tournament in October and there's another one tomorrow. We're looking at going from eight teams up to 12 and it will be a bit more formal.

'Veterans' football is small-sided at the moment, but they'd like to see it move towards 11-a-side. Building up over-age football is a key part of development and maybe one day there will be leagues for over-35s, over-45s and over-55s.

'On another front, we must make sure that the days are over when four or five coaches turned up with 120 kids at minis every week and they played 20-a-side games.

'You talk about quality. Well that's where quality can be affected directly. In a 20-a-side game, the kids with quality and the weaker kids will disappear in a mass of mediocrity and then they'll disappear from football and go and play another sport.'

Corbet has had very little involvement with Guernsey's main clubs.

'Going into clubs is not really a part of my mandate. They don't need my hands-on involvement. The various FA initiatives come through me and I'm available to assist the clubs, but basically it's up to them to take advantage of what the FA is offering.

'I actually think that the administration of clubs in Guernsey is quite strong, albeit through only a small band of people.

'The clubs are not sure that they need to get involved in the FA's Effective Football Club Administration programme and I agree with them. Our clubs could probably be used as a template of how amateur clubs should be run.'

Corbet's main emphasis over the past 12 months has been developing girls' football, the UK's fastest-growing sport. Nowhere has he made more progress, he said.

'It's really starting to take off. North have got 20-plus girls, Rovers, Bels, St Martin's and Sylvans have all got girls' sections as well and Vale Rec. and Rangers are on the way to having them. We're also getting 30-40 at our island-wide girls' mini sessions.

'And the girls' enthusiasm has surprised me. I could go down to Year 7 and come up with 15-20 high-quality footballers who are girls and I would have no problem putting them in under-11 boys' teams.'

Girls football is fairly new to Guernsey. Corbet started with a blank slab. But that wasn't the case in other areas of the sport, where I assumed that his message might have been greeted with a bit more scepticism and cynicism. Not so apparently.

'I've encountered very little resistance. I'm mindful all along that I'm now a professional working in a completely volunteer game. I make as many allowances as possible for that, but I can't relax and lose sight of our objectives.'

In much of his work, Corbet has been accompanied by the anti-smoking agency Gasp.

'Honestly I don't believe that football should obscure the healthy lifestyle message. Equally, we can't allow Gasp to take over from football. The balance is right because we complement each other.'

Corbet has two years of a three-year contract to run. He's 47 on 9 June and won't speculate about his long-term future in football. But he did admit that 'everyone is worried' about the FA's perilous financial position and couldn't guarantee that the association would carry on funding FDOs beyond 2005.

'Who knows after that?

I know of FDOs who were awarded salary increments that ended up going into general coffers.

'The FA has admitted that there is a black hole; what they haven't admitted is how big it is. And to be honest, as long as our funding keeps coming, I don't really care how big it is.

'The best thing would be if the big boys stopped going to the FA for handouts to bail them out of their self-inflicted financial crises.

'A lot of money has been squandered on high-profile, elderly foreign players who have taken everything out of the game and given nothing back and now those big clubs are crying foul and looking for others to bail them out.'

Although he conceded to frustrations over 'the level of bureaucracy' and the 'amount of computer work' that eats into his busy day, Corbet clearly loves his job. And he has ambitions that go way beyond the next 24 months.

'What's the end result of Guernsey taking advantage of what the FA has on offer?

'Well, I suppose the perfect scenario would be to get a young Guernseyman on a level one coaching course. He decides he likes it and progresses onto level two and three and ends up coaching in the professional game. I think it's just as realistic as us finding another professional footballer.'

The challenge has been set. And Corbet seems serious - he wants to put Guernsey's own version of Arsene Wenger on the road to stardom.