Guernsey FC v Wick - Saturday 9 August, 2pm (Victoria Park)
The Green Lions welcome new visitors to the island, Wick FC, to Victoria Park this afternoon, seven days after a battling 1-1 draw with Step 4 opposition Bedfont Sports in GFC’s first FA Cup tie in nine years.
Subsequently the club revealed that they had fielded a player whose registration form had been filled out incorrectly, resulting in the FA removing them from the competition and awarding the tie to Bedfont.
GFC manager Tony Vance yesterday described the administration error as ‘disappointing and frustrating’.
He added, though, that due to the various competitions the club enters, the player had been listed in the local registrations, which turned out to be misleading as the FA competition registrations require more information.
‘It was an unfortunate incident where a form was rejected, then re-done, but it had a wrong date on it.
‘I was under the impression that it had gone through second time around, it turns out it had not. From the [Guernsey] list we were working on, it showed the player was registered, but he was not on the other [FA] list.
‘It’s no-one’s fault, it was a genuine mistake, but I take responsibility for it because I am the manager so the buck stops with me.
‘It is only the second time it has happened to us in nearly 600 games. It happens to every club occasionally.
‘There will be the social media “experts” out there who pipe up, saying it should not have happened and it shouldn’t, but mistakes do happen. With the all moving parts we have in the club, [ideally] we need paid members of staff to facilitate these things, not just the one or two people it falls to.
‘We are disappointed, but we move on.’
While GFC missed out on an FA Cup replay, Vance admitted that playing the original tie will benefit his players as they begin their new league campaign against a Wick side who were edged out 3-2 in their own FA Cup match last weekend by VCD Athletic.
‘The negative is that we are out [of the cup], but the positive is we got 90 competitive minutes and fitness from the game to help us get ready for what we are really focused on this season, which is the new league we are in – the FA Cup was the cherry on the cake,’ Vance said.
‘Ultimately, the main aim for the season is to do well in the league.
‘We are back at Step 5 and hopefully we can play on the front foot. We have not been able to do that many times in the last seven years.
‘We are playing against a lot of new teams and no doubt we’ll come up against some unique styles.
‘While it is competitive at Step 4, you often know what to expect from the opposition and the reaction was often a defensive one.
‘Now we have dropped a level hopefully the reaction will be a positive one.’
The Green Lions will be without Jacques Cauvin, who was forced off during the first half against Bedfont Sports with an injury, while Ben Solway is unavailable.
Vance also revealed that Matt Loaring is waiting for a scan on a knee injury he picked up in pre-season training.
‘Matty’s skill-set is one we miss, but we just have to wait to see what the scan shows,’ the manager said.
GFC against Wick FC kicks off at 2pm today at Victoria Park.
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