Earning his Spurs - Pitchcare

Guernsey is one of the
British Isles most
southerly outcrops.
Only its sister islands,
Jersey, and a bit of
Sark, are further south. Together,
with Alderney and a number of
smaller islands, they are
collectively known as the Channel
Islands.
Guernsey is the furthest west -
30 miles off the Normandy coast
of France and 75 miles south of
Weymouth in Dorset. To its
eternal credit, it is not a member
of the EU. Neither is it part of the
United Kingdom, but a separate
possession of the Crown.
The climate is temperate, with
mild winters and cool, sunny
summers. The hottest months are
August and September, where
temperatures are generally around
20°C (68°F). The coldest month is
February with an average weekly
mean air temperature of 6°C.
Snow rarely falls. The
temperature rarely drops below
freezing, although strong windchill
from Arctic winds can
sometimes make it feel like it.
The island is made up of two
distinct geographical regions, the
Haut Pas, a high southern plateau,
and the Bas Pas, a low-lying and
sandy northern region. In general
terms, the Haut Pas is the more
rural of the two, and the Bas Pas
is more residential and
industrialised. It has a total area
of just 25 square miles and a
population of around 62,000.
Its close proximity to France is
evident in the names of people,
GuernseySport
places and roads. Whilst French is
spoken, the first language is
English. The island’s most famous
sporting son is ex Southampton
and England footballer, Matt Le
Tissier.
For such a small island its range
of sporting activities and facilities
is impressive and include:
• Golf - two courses at La Grand
Mare and L’Ancresse, plus a
nine hole course attached to St
Pierre Park hotel. The
L’Ancresse course hosts two
clubs, Royal Guernsey and
L’Ancresse, and a May bank
holiday race meeting
• Cricket - associate member of
the International Cricket
Council, with possibly the best
indoor cricket facilty in the
British Isles
• Football - the top tier is the Sure
Mobile Priaulx league
consisting of seven teams - each
with its own stadium and
training facilities. Run by the
Guernsey FA
• Gaelic football - the Guernsey
Gaels compete in a European
league
• Other sports - including one of
the oldest softball associations
in the world, a purpose built
table tennis centre, an extensive
modern leisure centre, athletics,
hockey and rugby
On the following pages we meet
some of the groundsmen and look
at the challenges they face due to
the island’s topography and
location.
Sporting life on
Guernsey
Compiled by Laurence Gale MSc