Matt the big name, but this was Corbet's club

TOMORROW evening at the Peninsula Hotel, Vale Rec's favourite son, one Matthew Paul Le Tissier, addresses a celebration of the club's first 75 years. But even Matt, 'Le God' to Southampton fans and indisputably the best ever product of the Vale Rec system - he scored 169 goals in one season for them - will agree that when it comes to this particular club's deity, nobody approaches THE man.

And he is Wilfred J. Corbet OBE, of Balmoral, Vale.

Not only did the one-time jurat and most esteemed of parishioners conceive the idea for and then form the club, he bought the Brookdale property on which the Corbet Field stands.

That was 48 years ago.

As sports clubs go, Vale Recreation - initially the Vale Bible Class Recreation Club - must be considered as arguably the most go-ahead of all today's clubs, regardless of sport.

They may have seen much better days on the football pitch, but it is a club that has never sat still.

The only cloud on their horizon is the one Albert Mahy, then president, predicted 25 years ago on the club's 50th anniversary celebrations that might one day darken their skies.

And truth be known, that cloud is already sitting over the ground.

'It is becoming increasingly difficult to find people who are prepared to give their time for the club,' he said back in 1982.

One prominent member who would not disagree with those sentiments is Tony Smith, who has 51 years' service to the club and still serves as the football manager.

'It's getting harder and harder and all the rules and regulations don't help,' said the stalwart, before rattling off the names of half-a-dozen key people who have retired from the club or left the island this year.

Smith, 70, is one of two current Vale men to have been honoured for 50 years' service to the club.

The other is Dave Le Noury and two more hard-working, dedicated club men you will struggled to find anywhere.

'It's just a way of life,' for Smith who rates the 1980-81 season, when Vale won all five GFA leagues, as his highlight.

But back to the start.

While today's youth will see Vale Rec as primarily a football club with bowls as a summer diversion, the truth is that Mr Corbet's club has catered for badminton, table tennis, draughts, chess, hockey, darts, cricket, softball, tennis and even golf.

Yes, 70 years ago, the club introduced a golf section and a cup presented by Mr H. R. Bichard was competed for on both the nine-hole courses in Herm and at Grandes Rocques.

In the 1950s there were also drama and debating groups, the latter a precursor to the modern times when it has become par for the course to discuss over a pint the performance of referees or players.

On the football fields and before the club joined the Guernsey Football Association, games were played against teams such as St Michael's, Capelles, L'Ancresse Rovers, Roussel Brothers and the Forest Boys Club, sometimes on cow pastures.

To be eligible, the player had to attend Bible class at least once a month.

But as the shadow of Adolf Hitler grew over eastern Europe in the mid-30s, Vale Rec affiliated themselves to the Cross Russel Association and in the year war broke out, they won that league.

At that time tennis was being played at Rocque Balan.

The Occupation initially saw all football stopped, but largely thanks to Jurat Corbet, permission was given for competitive matches again and the void was filled by the Sarnia Football League.

The war period was also significant for Vale ending their rule relating to Bible class attendance and outsiders were let in for the first time.

Among their number at that time was Roy Mahy, the former Muratti defender and Channel Islands golfing great. Now in his 80s, he recalls playing as a junior at inside right for the team that won the Sarnia League in 1941-42.

The team played all in black at that austere time and the Vale side also included another golfing legend in Jonny Heaume.

On Jurat Corbet, Mahy remembers him as 'quiet, but his half-time talks could be quite severe'.

The GFA Leagues resumed in 1947 and for the football section it was obvious that affiliation to the main body was necessary for it to develop.

The club was told by the GFA that first they would have to secure their own ground, this despite the fact that several member clubs did not have one.

Jurat Corbet was determined to overcome this hurdle and on a site formerly used as a flower nursery, the Corbet Field was born in 1948.

Vale Rec joined the GFA the following season and the first game in 1949 was against North.

But it wasn't until the arrival of Tony Williams in the mid-60s, that the club saw a major turnaround in fortunes.

From perennial whipping boys, the green-and-golds suddenly became a force thanks to Williams, who thought it would be a good idea to amass some of the island's finest players to challenge mighty St Martin's.

The ploy worked a treat and although it was some years before Saints were knocked off their perch, Williams' intervention had changed the club's fortunes for the next 40 years.

Today, only the bowls and badminton remain alongside football, the once mighty Vale softball teams just a fading memory.

It is all too easy to forget also that Vale also battled their way to a GCA Knockout final on the cricket field and three times won promotion to the top flight of the evening league.

As Matt Le Tissier will, I'm sure, say tomorrow evening, the yellows should be very proud of their achievements.