The Political Economy of Football V2

Victoria Park Guernsey FC are facing a relegation battle from the Isthmian League, but they have been able to move into their own purpose built stadium.  The Footes Lane ground was shared with rugby and athletics which affected the condition of the pitch. They will also be able to play and train on the same pitch at Victoria Park and generate their own revenue. The Green Lions have been playing for 12 years. Many of their original players have now aged and they are more reliant on younger players.  They have to subsidise the travel costs of visiting teams. Their model of playing in the non-league pyramid has been adopted by the Jersey Bulls and an Isle of Man team.  Newport (Isle of Wight) are a long established side but are now ground sharing at East Cowes as their ground is redeveloped. Much interest in the Channel Islands focuses on the Murrati Shield and Jersey beat Alderney 2-0 last week at the Arsenal Stadium.   Only two of the Alderney players came from t...

Island football has always been difficult except for islands that are close to the mainland with decent transport links, think the Isle of Wight, although teams there have had their challenges. Guernsey pioneered the idea of having a consolidated team, the Green Lions, playing in the English non-league system, an idea taken up by Jersey, not that they would see it that way given inter-island rivalries. The Isle of Man was also planning to enter the English non-league pyramid. Now the Jersey Bulls have not only seen their 100 per cent record in the Combined Counties League wiped out, they also face increased travel costs to the mainland (including those for away teams) and a loss of the crowd revenue from an average attendance of 700:  https://jerseyeveningpost.com/sport/football/2020/06/04/bulls-chairman-we-will-not-sit-out-next-season/ Alderney are one of my favourite island teams as they mimic the Isle of Wight in making it possible to travel to a game on an old London Undergrond...

As the mainland football correspondent for Radio Scilly (where the local league has just two teams) I am always interested in news of island football. The Non-League Paper this week featured that unusual island football team, Guernsey. The Green Lions were formed in 2011. They began life in the Combined Counties League and won back to back promotions to the Isthmian League where they seem to have found their level at Step 4 of the non-league system. The catalyst for starting a new club came when the island team won the FA National League Systems Cup in 2010 and got the chance to represent England in the Uefa Regions Cup. Initially, a lot of local clubs were unhappy that their best players had left to play for the island team. (There are nine teams in the Priaulx League). The team has to travel by plane for away matches which usually involves an overnight stay. Four players work for a scaffolding company and only two can be taken on each away trip. There is one player who is no...