Guernsey FC Women take ‘next step’ with Jersey league entry
The Green Lionesses will play in the Jersey Women’s League next season — and will host league games at Victoria Park in the new year.
Guernsey FC Women, who won the Jersey Women’s FA Cup in their inaugural season, will also enter UK cup competitions.
‘After the success we had in Jersey last season, we were in discussions with them about potentially joining their league, and I’m delighted to say that we have officially been accepted into the Jersey Women’s League for the season ahead,’ said GFC Women’s manager Anna Gauvain.
‘The plan is that between October to February we will be going over to Jersey, playing two rounds against their teams, and then the Jersey teams have committed to coming over here to play us, so that will mean four home games in March and April at Guernsey football’s new home, Victoria Park.
‘We took time to reflect after our positive start last season and to work on the next step in our journey.
'We have to remember that we’re only in our second year and we’re still growing in terms of numbers and ability.
‘It’s important for us to work towards everyone being up at the same level before we commit ourselves to something bigger, and so we feel the programme we have created provides the appropriate next step in our progression as we work to develop a squad who are ready to compete in the UK league system.
‘We will be able to test ourselves regularly against the sides in the Jersey league, as well as seeing how far we can go in a couple of UK cup competitions to provide that extra challenge for our young squad.’
Gauvain added that having the new home of Guernsey football available to them heading into the spring was exciting.
‘We are delighted at the prospect of welcoming our Guernsey fans to Victoria Park in 2025 for our first-ever home league fixtures and that will provide an exciting end to our first league campaign,’ she said.
‘It will be a big step in the right direction for our girls and should inject some more excitement into the game.
‘Having a wonderful home pitch to play on at Victoria Park will be massive for us.'
‘The stage is set for us to continue our hard work and development, and it will be exciting to see what we can then commit to as we look ahead to our third season as GFC Women.’
GFC Women’s application is in to join the UK pyramid system and all being well, the Green Lionesses will be accepted into a league from 2025-26.
The new structure effectively replicates a CI league set up by the JFA and GFA in 2019/20, which was ended by Covid.
