STEVE OGIER has backed down and apologised for comments he made about Shetland’s 2005 Island Games-winning football team. The Guernsey coach last week said that the side that beat his team 2-0 in the final was made up of footballers playing in mainland Scotland.
That triggered a furious reaction in Shetland with victorious manager Niall Bristow stating that the entire team - apart from one player who returned from university in the States to play - was based in the island at the time.
He demanded a full apology.
‘If I’ve got the facts wrong, then I apologise,’ said Ogier.
‘Rumours were flying around that we heard from other teams. If the facts are wrong, the facts are wrong and I suppose they were just rumours.
‘If they are well off the mark, then I apologise to the people of Shetland.’
The Guernsey Press received complaints from Shetland residents after Ogier’s remarks appeared last week in an article about Shetland pulling out of next year’s Games in Rhodes.
A discussion thread berating the Guernsey manager has also been started on Shetland’s online community forum, Shetlink.com.
Ogier himself has had to field questions from both BBC Shetland and the island’s weekly paper, The Shetland Times. It had been suggested that his comments were down to sour grapes.
‘It wasn’t sour grapes. I was pleased to get to the final,’ he said.
‘I didn’t think it would cause such a stir. I didn’t want a few rash comments to get out of hand.
‘Next time I’ll do my research before I say anything.’
Ogier’s retraction should go some way to appease Bristow who made clear his feeling about what his rival coach had said.
‘He should apologise without any question,’ said Bristow.
‘Basically what he is saying is that the team was made up of players from mainland Scotland - there’s no truth in that at all. Eighteen of the 20 in the squad played in previous Island Games.
‘I’m disappointed that this has happened because he came to me at the end of the game and he shook my hand and he said the best team won. Why has this come out 15 months later?
‘All of my players met the criteria. Mr Ogier should be man enough to say he’s got this wrong and apologise.
‘There is no way this should damage the feeling between the islands. From one football man to another, he should say sorry.’
The main point of contention was Shetland’s star player, midfielder James Johnson.
Word had been going about that he had been brought in from the Scottish leagues for the competition.
A video clip from the match showing him flipping the ball over Guernsey left back Ollie McKenzie was even featured in the ’showboat’ section on Sky Sports’ Soccer AM show.
Bristow said that Johnson had been living and playing football in Shetland at the time of the Games, although a few years earlier while at university he had played at a semi-professional standard for Edinburgh Spartans.
‘I wish they could play at a higher standard but they live in Shetland,’ said Bristow.
‘On the one hand it was a massive compliment to the standard of football we played - he thought our players played at a higher level. At the same time, it’s sinister what he was suggesting.
‘We got there by serious hard work. I thought Guernsey were overconfident going into the final by just the way they were warming up.
‘They breezed through their group but when they got to the final, they met their match.’
Article posted on 30th September, 2006 - 12.00am
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