This Is Guernsey

By Aaron Scoones

STEVE OGIER has supported the call to have the eligibility rules for the Muratti changed. At present a player has to have been in the relevant island for one year before he can play in the biggest match of the season.

In his Saturday Comment, Guernsey Press sports editor Rob Batiste argued that this qualification period is outdated and should be reduced to three or six months.

Guernsey coach Ogier agrees with him.

‘I think the rules should be changed - they are antiquated,’ he said.

‘You need to be here for a calendar year and not even for one season.

‘If someone has played the majority of the season, they should be eligible for the Muratti.

‘Then you look at the other side of the coin with someone who’s been at university and has missed most of the season - they can play straight away. It needs to be looked at.’

In his article, Batiste pointed to the case of St Martin’s Jason Winch who moved to Guernsey in June.

The talented left winger used to turn out for Worthing in the Ryman League Premier Division and was part of the Sussex under-18s team that crushed Jersey 5-0 in the FA County Cup in September 2006.

He would have definitely been a candidate for Ogier’s side for May’s Muratti at Springfield but the rules disallow it as he would not have been in Guernsey for the required 12 months.

Ogier pointed out that he was also disallowed from picking Winch for the under-21 Muratti because of the regulation.

Ogier refused to discuss individual players in relation to the matter but he did point to the case of Bels’ Kari-Anne Riber from when he was coach of the Guernsey women’s side.

After arriving in the Bailiwick just before the start of last season Norwegian Riber broke into the island women’s squad for their South and West Counties Championship.

However, the eligibility rules that also apply to the women’s game disallowed her from taking part in the Jersey match.

In a double whammy, after being picked to go to Rhodes for the Island Games in June, she was told that she could not play due to the eligibility laws for that competition.

‘Kari-Anne played a whole season for Bels and in the South and West Counties and she ended up being ineligible for the Muratti,’ said Ogier.

‘She was really upset. From what I’ve seen first hand with Kari-Anne, it needs to be changed.’

Ogier’s predecessor as island boss Colin Fallaize also fell foul of the rules.

In 2003, he could not pick player of the year Trim Morgan because he had not been in the island long enough.

But interestingly ‘Big Fal’ has a very different take on the issue.

He believes that only Guernsey-born players or players with Sarnian heritage should be able to turn out for the green-and-whites in the Muratti.

‘Being a Guernseyman, I think it should be on parentage whether you can play for the island,’ he said.

‘That way there’s no arguments.

‘You could live in Timbuktu and still come back and play if you’ve not got a professional contract.’

The inter-insular committee that is made of delegates from the Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney Football Associations, determine the eligibility rules.

Dave Nussbaumer, the GFA chairman and a member of the inter-insular committee, declined to comment on the issue.