My Grand Plan to get the best out of our situation

FOR 70 years, football men have argued and occasionally pleaded for radical change to the domestic football structure.

Time and again they have failed and 125 years after the first staging of the Priaulx League competition, the domestic game remains ‘same old’, just a bit bigger than usual.

In many ways it is remarkable that Guernsey club football at the top level has survived this long.

It’s a tribute to the steadfast work of so many in committee rooms and a club structure where the ownership of land and clubhouses has given everyone that extra incentive to keep going.

Sure, there have been wobbles along the way.

It is not commonly known that St Martin’s folded in the 1920s and Sylvans likewise in 1938, but thankfully both bounced back to enjoy their spells as ‘kings’ of the Guernsey game.

Back in the 1990s Rangers were on very shaky ground as they approached their centenary year and might not have survived but for selling their share of the Track, while Tics – twice – found the effort of it all too much and have gone for good.

Rovers kept going, even though for years they were whipping boys. Look at them now.

But the pressure to survive has never been greater and as a sports editor and lover of football – and all clubs I might add – I worry that big trouble is around the corner as money gets tighter, volunteer numbers decrease and die-hards disappear.

The game needs a fillip and only radical change will do.

Here’s my plan:

r Introduce a Priaulx League ‘Premiership’ to sit above a Priaulx League ‘Championship’

r The 'Premiership' to be a seven-team round-robin comprising ONLY the seven FA Charter Standard clubs with dedicated home grounds in Guernsey.

r The prize: Controversial, most certainly, but the opportunity to be Guernsey’s representatives in the Upton Park Trophy.

r The majority of matches to be played as floodlit games on a Monday night and be spread over the course of the season with the fixture schedule to initially comprise the first half of the 21-match programme and, when at halfway likely title challengers emerge, the remaining games are scheduled to maximise the drama. Rovers, Sylvans and Rangers – the three clubs without lights – would play their home games on the newly-available Saturdays when Guernsey FC won’t be in action from next year, due to FA Cup or FA Trophy weeks, or other newly-created gaps in the calendar.

r With consultation of the Premiership club coaches, Guernsey Football Club’s 30-odd locally-based registered players to be spread across the competing teams – i.e. four or five per each club – and be made available by GFC for the domestic clubs.

r Only players who have played three ‘Premiership’ games will be available for Muratti selection, unless the individual has clearly been unavailable due to injury.

r The Priaulx League ‘Championship’ will sit separately below the Premiership, comprise all nine existing clubs, including Alderney and Manzur who, at this stage (perhaps never), would not be eligible for the Premiership.

r The Priaulx League ‘Championship’ to be a simple home and away schedule of 16 matches and be played on Saturdays (or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday nights) without the use of GFC squad members.

r The Stranger Cup to return to a straight KO floodlit competition.

* If a six-match ‘Premiership’ be deemed unworthy of providing a Guernsey Upton representative, the ‘Premiership’ will simply have a new trophy and a big cash prize for the winners and the Upton place will continue to go to the champions of the nine-team ‘Championship’.

The whys and the workings:

GUERNSEY FC has worked wonders for island football and, specifically, it’s top players.

It’s enemies and critics said it wouldn’t last, but it has and it’s internal structure is sufficiently strong that it will do so for many, many years yet.

But, in my mind, it owes the domestic clubs it effectively stripped of their top talent and, thanks to those people who run the Isthmian League, the opportunity has arisen to repay that ‘debt’, help heal any lasting wounds and give the local club game a major boost.

How?

Next season the Green Lions’ Bostik South commitments reduce from 46 games to 38 and every indications point to a commitment of no more than two midweek away games all season, as opposed to the minimum seven this campaign.

The result is that despite Steve Sharman’s laudable plans for more GFA representative games, many of Guernsey’s best footballers – GFC have circa 30 on their books – will be kicking their heels every week with little prospect of competitive football as only 11 can actually start a game.

It’s a wasteful situation and for the good of the individual and the collective, they need to play much more than they currently do.

The ‘Premiership’ with its relatively lightweight schedule (just six games per side) will provide that.

Additionally, because the seven (hopefully) evenly-matched teams will provide a standard of football both higher in tempo and quality than that of the existing Priaulx League with its often poor player commitment and performance, the new ‘Premiership’ will act as a worthy middle-ground competition for the elite players who are active weekly at semi-pro football in the UK.

It will also, due to its enhanced status, provide additional allure for the domestic fan.

THE introduction of the ‘Premiership’ and perhaps the prize of overall Guernsey champions will be seen from some as detracting from the ‘Championship’, but you would have to be blind to argue the point that the very existence of GFC has, from day one, already detracted from the quality of club football.

But a ‘Premiership’ gives the domestic Chartered Status clubs the opportunity to reclaim perceived lost status and – for the winners – a far more realistic chance of success in the Upton.

Think about it.

Can you imagine the current Rovers, St Martin’s or North squads with four or five active Green Lions in their side?

The trick to make the most of the whole plan is to bring GFC and the clubs together in a way not previously seen.

Tony Vance and the ‘Premiership’ coaches can sit down together in early August and negotiate a fair and even distribution of talent for that competition only, which takes into consideration historical links of the player and the club, plus the needs of GFC.

For example, Dom Heaume, Jamie Dodd and Simon Geall would be seen as Saints players, Paris Pereira, Seb Skillen, Thomas Dodds and Keanu Marsh as Vale Rec starters.

The critics may choose to argue that under such a plan that the elite get everything – they get to play on the UK scene, they get the cream of the best domestic games.

But, on the flip side, ‘Premiership’ football surely should be used as a carrot for the ‘Championship’ player who, at some clubs as things stand, is claiming a Priaulx League place largely on the grounds of default.

Never has it been easier to play Priaulx League football somewhere and that cannot be good for the overall health of the game.

BUT what about Alderney?

Where do Manzur sit with all this?

First and foremost Guernsey needs to do its best for its own football and logistically Alderney cannot be included in any schedule which consists solely of midweek evening fixtures.

No, Alderney, who have been a breath of fresh air, would continue to exist in the Priaulx League ‘Championship’ with its 16-match, home and away, programme.

Indeed, playing just eight away games would save the Ridunians many thousands over the course of the season and they would still play meaningful football.

Manzur could, theoretically, slot into the ‘Premiership’ but in my eyes they remain a club still on Priaulx probation and only clubs with FA Charter Status – and that necessitates the ownership of their own ground and a youth structure – should be included.

Also, the more ‘Premiership’ teams, the more the quality is diminished and the whole intention is to raise the stakes, increase the entertainment value and the standard of domestic competition.

Another side benefit would, of course, be to significantly raise the prospect of a Guernsey side once again winning an Upton.

And were we to fashion a ‘Premiership’ along the lines of the player distribution below, I would like to think that is a scenario that would return quickly.

Guernsey FC and, the GFA senior coaching teams, might even be persuaded to assist with all or some of the ‘Premiership’ teams that are short of coaching experience.

The trick is to finally – truly – work together for the overall good of the game, showing due respect from all sides and with meaningful dialogue.

What do you think of Rob's ideas? Do you have any of your own? Please comment here or email rbatiste@guernseypress.com