SAVING more than £6,000 is the main reason why the Muratti has been moved from Foote’s Lane to the Track.

Sources close to the Guernsey Football Association claimed that to hold this year’s Muratti at the island’s premier sporting venue, which has hosted the game biennially since 2003, would cost between £7,000 to £9,000.

However, having the match at the Track, the traditional home of the Guernsey Muratti, is believed to cost just £1,500.

With the island gripped in the worldwide recession, coupled with the fact that Cimandis announced this week that they will not sponsor the annual event beyond May’s game, has led the GFA to tighten their belts.

The GFA chairman, Mark Le Tissier (pictured), declined to confirm the figures involved, but said: ‘The finances definitely had a bearing on the decision. We looked at the costs involved [in holding the match] at Foote’s Lane compared to what they are going to be at the Track and there is a significant saving.’

The more expensive cost of using Foote’s Lane is due to hiring security, covering the athletics track with matting and erecting barriers around the pitch.

Foote’s Lane is managed by Culture and Leisure, and the department’s chief officer, Dave Chilton, said that it was ‘debatable’ as to whether they had made any money out of holding the event.

‘We probably broke even,’ he said.