Thanks for the memories - Dorey

DAVE DOREY made an emotion-tinged 30-minute speech as he stood down as Guernsey's football supremo at Thursday's annual meeting. Dorey admitted that several people spent hours trying to persuade him not to leave after he announced his shock resignation last week, but he decided not to go back on his decision after a long conversation with one particularly good, unnamed friend.

Dorey said: 'As my dear friend and former Vale Rec president Alf Priaulx told me many years ago: "Always remember - it is far better to go while they want you to stay than to stay until they want you to go".'

'I hand over administrative responsibility with confidence to Mark Le Tissier. Mark knows that I shall be available to assist whenever I am able. I make that offer out of a genuine desire to ensure that the association is able to move as smoothly as possible into a new and exciting era.

'The time is now right for me to take a break, thus allowing new people with new ideas and fresh enthusiasm to take up the mantle, much in the same way as I did with such relish when I became GFA secretary in 1994.'

Dorey said that he wanted the association to look forward to 'exciting times ahead' but he could not resist lacing his speech with references to the magnificent achievements of the past decade.

'I look back on countless happy memories of my period in office, although admittedly there have been some disappointing moments, with the early years seeing us taking a bit of a roller-coaster ride as I battled to bring about much-needed reforms.

'You don't achieve such drastic change without upsetting some people along the way. There is always a balance to be struck and I have always done my level best to strike that balance. I have never sought to introduce change for change's sake, but have sought to bring about change only where I could see a positive benefit for the future development of football.'

He said that Guernsey's successful bid to be recognised as a full county member of the Football Association and the decision to enter the South West Counties Championship in the late 1990s were the two foundations on which recent successes were built.

'It is fair to say that we could not have progressed to anywhere near the extent we have had we not become a full county member. The financial and other support we now receive from the FA is exceptional and we have much to be thankful for.

'While all of us have every reason to bemoan some of the bureaucracy which accompanies full membership, it pales into insignificance when compared with the huge package of benefits to which our association is now entitled.

'As a result, we are in an ideal position to drive the sport forward from new headquarters with full-time salaried officers. Who would have thought this possible only three years ago? We are in a position where I can stand aside from my honorary position knowing that the association can now be served in a modern and professional manner.'

Delegates to the annual meeting looked shocked when Dorey revealed that the senior island team's entry into the SWCC and the Island Games had cost nearly £200,000 since 1998, not a penny of which had come from general revenue.

But he warned that the FA was no longer prepared to fund Guernsey's participation in the Games and urged the GFA to put in place financial arrangements for Shetland 2005 as soon as possible.

After talking of the association's remarkable achievements during his leadership, Dorey asked if he could be 'a little cheeky' and set a series of targets for the future.

*The re-opening of negotiations towards the establishment of a Channel Islands Football League.

*Continued investigation into the possibility of the requisition of an all-weather training area owned and used by the GFA.

*Continued lobbying of the FA to secure entry of our champion club side into the FA Vase.

*Investigation into the possibility of GFA-employed groundstaff to assist all local clubs with the maintenance of their excellent facilities.

*The establishment of women's and girls' leagues under the umbrella of the GFA.

In closing, Dorey said: 'I should like to say that it has been a genuine pleasure and an honour to have served the association. I have been a lucky man. When Guernsey football runs through your blood - as it does through mine - a man is indeed fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity of sharing so many momentous footballing occasions with so many good friends. The memories will last a lifetime. Thank you all so very much.'

Dorey looked close to tears as delegates gave him a rapturous ovation at the end of his marathon speech.