Rain making people ‘crave’ new 3G pitch at Victoria Avenue

That is the view of former Muratti player, now GFA board member, Kevin Gilligan, who says on the latest edition of the Guernsey Press Football Podcast that the stadium will be the proverbial game changer for everyone.

‘A lot of focus is on the stadium and the pitch and it’s great how visibly people can see what’s going on. I think we’re doing well from a GFA perspective for sharing those videos through social media. If you can’t get down to Victoria Avenue, you can get to see it,’ he said.

‘The weather’s helping as well because obviously it’s going to be a 3G pitch, so people are now craving 3G. That probably wasn’t the most popular decision when it was announced, but I think it’s showing it’s a necessity.’

• Hear the full interview with Kevin Gilligan on this week’s Guernsey Press Football Podcast

Although now also an assistant coach at Guernsey FC, Gilligan emphasised that the Green Lions will only be one of many beneficiaries.

‘If it was going to be a GFC facility, then that’s when the grass pitch would have gone down because that’s very much focusing on an elite approach. But it’s not, it’s very clear it’s a community project.

‘The pitch will be used, hopefully, heavily by all of the clubs. Hopefully, suddenly the weather changes and we do get sunshine, but if not, we’ve already been talking about how much in use that pitch is going to be and available to all the clubs at a viable price.

‘So I think it’s really exciting because already I can see with this season my involvement in youth football that the kids are getting frustrated. There’s “when are the games going to be?” They don’t really like playing on the current 3G and then you can start seeing them wandering off to other sports because ultimately they want to play matches.

‘So having this 3G surface at the stadium for the community, I think is going to be really beneficial.’