‘Schedule age-group Murattis to benefit all’
INTER-INSULAR fixture dates should be reconsidered, the manager of the Jersey Bulls has suggested, in the interests of both players and clubs.
Gary Freeman, whose Bulls team have all but given up on promotion from the Combined Counties Premier Division South, said that schedule changes could benefit everyone.
He lost players from his squad at the weekend due to the U21 Muratti last Sunday, as the Bulls went down to league leaders Raynes Park Vale.
‘The senior Muratti is played at the end of the season, but for the age-group fixtures, they are slammed in the middle of the Combination season and our season,’ he said.
‘It has meant players like Pierce Roche [Jersey U21 goalkeeper] was unable to play for St Peter as they lifted the title.
‘There is also an impact on us too, as we were unable to use some of our younger players against Raynes Park.
‘I feel like there could be added benefit to all parties involved if there was some adjustment to the age-group Muratti scheduling.’
When the U21 Muratti was introduced in the 1980s, the game was played in November. Current scheduling, with all the age group games played within a month of each other in March and April, can mean that players involved in U15s and U16s, or U18s and U21s, can miss important club games in the run-up to representative fixtures – Rovers’ Saul Falla and Rob Overcuks missed the Stranger Cup final because it fell in the week before the Junior Muratti in March – and cause Island coaches problems in attempting to organise training sessions.
Crucial top-of-the-table league fixtures at U16 and U18 level have also had to be postponed by Guernsey Football League Management in recent weeks as teams involved would have had half a side missing on representative duty.
The issue is likely to be reconsidered by a new-look GFLM committee over the close season. The committee is currently recruiting new members.
