This Is Guernsey

By James Varley

Alderney take on Guernsey in the Muratti semi-final earlier this year.

BAVARIA NOMADS are again considering their future in the local football leagues and may not last past the new year.

The Alderney-based side and outlet for their Muratti players say that increased pressure to play extra games in Guernsey could lead to them dropping out of competitive football for the first time in more than 20 years.

At last month’s Guernsey Football Association AGM, a motion was passed to increase the number of matches a team plays each other from twice a season to three times.

As a result, the sides have also agreed they cannot afford an extra trip to Mount Hale, which means players from the northern isle will have to make at least 14 visits to Guernsey next season, as opposed to a minimum of seven in previous years.

Keith Webster, president of the Alderney Football Association, said an additional £5,000 is needed to ensure Nomads complete the 2009-10 league season.

‘We were left with the stark alternative of either finding another £5,000 to pay for additional flight costs, in addition to the £9,000 we already have to find, or pull out of the league,’ he said.

‘At a meeting last week it was agreed that playing only local football would be a disaster and would ultimately lead to a return to the 18-0 Muratti results of the past.

‘We have therefore signed up to play next season but we only currently have the cash to complete about half the fixtures.’

‘If we can’t raise significantly more funding then we will have no option but to pull out of the league in, I would guess, January.’

According to Webster, Nomads’ competitors baulked at the idea of making two trips a season to the northern isle.

‘The Guernsey clubs were saying they couldn’t afford an extra £800 each, but they expect us to fork out thousands,’ he said.

‘It’s unfair from a sporting point of view, as we will have to play everybody away from home twice, and it’s also unfair from a money point of view. It is a democracy though and the clubs felt they would like to play more football.

‘They also decided they didn’t have the funds to come up here twice.’

Nomads, who signed up to league football in Guernsey more than 20 years ago, finished sixth in the eight-team division last season.

Webster said that they have been left with no alternative but to play on.

‘We can’t play in the youth development league or with the over-35s as we don’t have enough players,’ he said.

‘This is the only game in town. Guernsey will not negotiate on this and we have been left with a take it or leave it situation.

‘We are not prepared to go down without a fight, but as I speak the future of competitive football in Alderney looks rather bleak.’

The GFA fixtures secretary Garry Cortez confirmed that Nomads had entered into this season’s Division Two.

He also said that he had spoken to Nomads’ player-coach Kevin Gentle yesterday and there was no mention of the Alderney side pulling out.

But in a bid to help them keep costs down, Cortez has organised their first four matches as away fixtures so that they are able to travel by boat to Guernsey instead of flying.

He said there was nothing he could do about the Guernsey clubs wanting to travel only once each to Alderney during the season.

‘The clubs are the ones that have the votes, not me,’ he said.

‘I have family connections with Alderney and I do have a soft spot for them. They might not be happy with the situation, but it is like everything else.

‘If clubs want to enter the Hampshire Cup and they get through a couple of rounds, no one is going to give them the money to be able to do it.’

Article posted on 8th July, 2009 - 2.30pm