THE Sunday Soccer League will decide tonight if they are splitting from the Guernsey Football Association. The social league are holding their AGM at 7.30 at the RAFA Club.
It promises to be an explosive affair as the member clubs will decide if the league will stay with the GFA or go out on their own.
‘My own personal view is that I can see them pulling away,’ said SSL secretary Mark Fallaize (pictured). ‘I can see the benefits of being affiliated and I can see the benefits of not being affiliated. It’s swings and roundabouts.’
If the league decides to de-affiliate it would be a massive blow to the GFA following the Business League’s decision a couple of weeks ago to go their own way.
The situation comes about in light of the GFA’s controversial five-year plan. The main stumbling block for the social leagues was the ‘one man, one club’ ruling. Under the new rules, a player at a GFA club can play only for that club and therefore not be able to play for a club in the social leagues.
However, in a bid to keep the social leagues on board, the association’s new chairman, Mark Le Tissier, offered a compromise to allow five players from every social league side to also be able to play for a social club in the other weekend league.
But it proved too little too late for the Business League and it could be the case for the SSL as well
‘At the end of the day, the GFA took this decision without too much consultation and you’re now seeing the fallout from it,’ said Fallaize.
If the SSL do decide to split, none of their teams can enter the Guernsey FA Cup or use GFA pitches and none of their players, coaches or administrators can have anything to do with the GFA or the English FA.
Fallaize, as an FA-qualified referee said that he would walk away from the league as he wishes to keep on refereeing.
‘I’d have no choice – I’ve done nine years of refereeing and I don’t want to give up,’ he said.
‘The SSL has more GFA players than the Business League so it will affect us more. We’d lose teams straight away [if we don’t affiliate].
‘It’s a messy situation, but hopefully, for once and for all, it will be sorted out. The actual plan was good but little bits of it needed to be sorted out.’
If the SSL stay with the GFA, they will continue as they are for the next year.
Then for the 2009-10 season their clubs will be absorbed in the new Senior County Division structure.
A number of GFA clubs are understood to be waiting on the SSL’s decision.
If they do stay, the likes of St Martin’s will enter a team into their league.
‘I hope they do, otherwise we may lose players,’ said St Martin’s president Henry Davey.
Article posted on 31st July, 2008 - 2.30pm
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