Guernsey to feature in new four-islands women’s tournament
Inter-island women’s football is growing with the launch of a new tournament taking place at the start of next season.
Cherry Godfrey has worked with the island football associations to launch the Cherry Godfrey Cup, a four-islands tournament featuring Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man.
The first of a biennial tournament, to take place in each non-Island Games year, will be played at Springfield in Jersey on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 August. Guernsey will have good memories of Springfield, having secured a first Muratti win since 2008 there in May.
But the island side finished bottom of the table in the 2023 Island Games, where the Isle of Wight placed eighth out of 10 sides, Jersey sixth and the Isle of Man claimed the bronze medal.
Cherry Godfrey was founded as an independent financial services company in Guernsey and still has its headquarters in the island but in recent years has expanded into Jersey, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight and now into Southampton.
‘As far as we knew, there wasn’t a significant tournament outside of the Island Games that gave the teams the opportunity to showcase the incredible talent within the islands,’ said Tanzy Cherry, chief operating officer at Cherry Godfrey.
‘To be able to officially launch the Cherry Godfrey Cup from our conversations on how we could support women’s football in the islands, is a huge achievement.
‘The team and I couldn’t be prouder to be sharing the news with everyone across the islands. We are all very excited for what we believe is set to become an iconic event for many years to come.’
She thanked Guernsey Football Association chief executive Gary Roberts and Guernsey FC manager Tony Vance for their help in developing the project.
Jonathan Le Fondre, football services manager of the Jersey Football Association, said it was delighted to host the inaugural tournament.
‘It was clear from our discussions with Cherry Godfrey that they are extremely passionate about women’s football in the islands and the launch of this tournament next month will build upon the fantastic growth of the women’s game,’ he said.
The tournament will see two semi-finals played on the evening of 23 August, with a third place play-off match on the Saturday morning and the final in the afternoon. Admission to all games will be free.
