Stranger uncertainty as return nears
NO DECISION has been made on whether football’s traditional Stranger Cup gets played this season.
While there is determination and real hope of completing the various league programmes in a window that is being left open until mid June, the cups are a different matter.
‘We will be working with GFLM to see how best to fit the competition into the remainder of the season once it is able to resume,’ said Guernsey FA chief executive Gary Roberts.
‘Prioritising the leagues before the cups kick in,’ was the message from GFLM chairman Phil Corbet who has also tried to clarify when they can re-start having been given backing by all senior clubs to play right through until the end of May and make available their pitches, while half of them are prepared to keep their grounds open until mid June.
GFLM are now just waiting for confirmation as to when they get going and if comes in a fortnight (22 March) then football will resume three days later.
If the green light were to come at the end of that week (26 March), then the first games will be on the following Monday.
Whenever the move into phase three is announced, football will resume 72 hours later.
The GFLM believe that this allows clubs a minimum of two weeks to train for the re-start, with the exception of all U18s, whether still in education or not.
As things stand the FNB Priaulx League will finish at the back-end of May.
On top of that there are the latter stages of the Jeremie and FA Cups, plus the entire Stranger competition which was initially factored to have a group stage, semi-finals and final.
Some are calling for the Stranger to be either put aside for this season or the U18s, who no longer have a Junior Muratti to prepare for, to be played as a straight knockout involving the remaining eight teams.
