The football season will be starting on the Isles of Scilly in a few weeks’ time when the summer tourist trade is over. Each Sunday two teams, Garrison Gunners and Woolpack Wanderers, will play each other in the league or various cups (starting with the equivalent of the community shield) at the Garrison Field stadium on the main island of St.Mary’s.
The football season will be starting on the Isles of Scilly in a few weeks’ time when the summer tourist trade is over. Each Sunday two teams, Garrison Gunners and Woolpack Wanderers, will play each other in the league or various cups (starting with the equivalent of the community shield) at the Garrison Field stadium on the main island of St.Mary’s.
Over the summer the populated off islands of Tresco, St. Martins and St. Agnes have been playing each other at cricket, but it is decades since they were able to raise even a scratch football team (the St. Martins pitch which had a crest in the middle produced particular challenges).
The Channel Islands have pioneered the way in island football with Guernsey placing a competitive team in the English non-league system and paying opponents to fly out to the island.
The island of Herm has the smallest population (around 60) of the populated islands. Indeed, the human population is far outnumbered by rabbits. Even so, the island has now put together a football team, albeit not every player is currently resident on the island which our Channel Islands correspondent says is something of a booze cruise destination.
Herm are back and determined to enjoy themselves in the resurrected Railway Cup. The team played their opening game of the new league last Monday, losing out 8-3 to Fusion Rangers at Northfield.
It is an improvement from Herm’s only two previous competitive matches when they played in two successive Guernsey FA Cups in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
On both occasions, they had the misfortune to come up against the teams who would go on to win the Priaulx League that season, namely St Martin’s and North, recording 18-0 and 17-0 defeats respectively. But with only two of the players from that North defeat still involved now, Herm’s manager Brett Moore is targeting some more realistic successes in the Railway. (Incidentally, it is a long time since Guernsey had a railway).
The more populated island of Sark (its population is about ten times that of Herm) put a team into the 2003 Island Games and lost all four matches played, scoring no goals and conceding 70. They lost 19-0 to Gibraltar, 20-0 to the Isle of Wight and 16-0 to Greenland. They then lost the play off game for last place and second to last 15-0.