Le Tissier doubling down in pursuit of Island Games goal
Who is the hardest-working player in Guernsey football? There is good reason nowadays to put forward Vale Rec and Guernsey FC attacker Glenn Le Tissier.
If you don’t find him with his boots on five days a week, it will be six, as it was last week.
The Vale Rec stalwart and club captain is also giving his all to Guernsey FC which finds him training every evening from Monday to Thursday – two sessions at the Corbet Field and two more with the Isthmian League outfit.
So far he has not had to juggle a clash between his two clubs, but says that he would now feel less ‘guilty’ of missing a Rec game given the new-found strength of his Priaulx club, exemplified in their recovery win against St Martin’s on Saturday.
Le Tissier has a clear motivation for his football commitment.
Listen: Glenn Le Tissier joined Rec coach Mark Romeril on this week's Guernsey Press Football Podcast
‘Purely and simply this season I want to play in the home Island Games next summer, so I’m on a training programme, and trying to break into GFC team will help that,’ he said.
It’s meant just two short run-outs off the bench so far this season, bringing Le Tissier to a GFC career of four starts and 18 appearances all told. The probability of being a substitute is what stops some players from committing solely to GFC, he said.
Le Tissier is not the only Priaulx stalwart trying to break through at GFC this season. But how big is the gap between the leagues?
‘It’s big, physically big. All these lads we play against are massive, a lot fitter and stronger than even we are at GFC. It’s much more physically demanding.
‘Technically, some of these players on however many hundreds of pounds a week, I don’t think they’re any better than what we’ve got, just a bit more streetwise. But it certainly is a step up. I notice it even in training with GFC and then training with Vale Rec.
‘You might not even get one chance every three games at this level, and you’ve got to take it. And you’ve got to run 20-30km closing people down before you get that chance. In the Priaulx you can be a bit lazy, and you know something is going to fall to you probably every half hour.’
Le Tissier has been enjoying a revival at the Corbet Field under new coach Mark Romeril. ‘There’s been a total culture change, attitude change,’ said Le Tissier.
‘When Rommers was in talks with the club, we met up, I explained how the club was, where we were going, and that it wasn’t really working too well.
‘The main changes haven’t actually been football-based, it’s been about professionalising training, a fines system is back in, kit, all the basics, all the controllables, get the lads back enjoying it again and being in a group rather than just scraping around for teams.
‘Now we’ve got competition for places, training is competitive, and if anyone misses training, or turn up late, their shirt isn’t necessarily given to them any more, and that’s me included.’
