Jersey's footballers 'have overtaken' Guernsey, says Guernsey boss Tony Vance

Jersey are unbeaten in the Muratti Vase since 2017

Island boss Tony Vance says Guernsey have been "overtaken" by Jersey and the structure of football must change.

Jersey's men beat Guernsey 2-1 to win the Muratti last week - their sixth win in the past seven games.

Jersey club sides have won the Upton Park Trophy for the past decade when facing Guernsey's domestic champions.

"Their youth set-up is better than ours, their league set-up is better than ours and we really need to do something about our set-ups," he said.

"It's not something that's happened overnight, and we have to be different to them, we have to be better than them in our products, and below Guernsey FC we're not."

"It's not just the Muratti teams, it's not just the Guernsey FA, it's things like who's going to be the next Muratti manager?"

Tony Vance (right) and former Guernsey boss Colin Fallaize - who is his assistant - have been in charge of Guernsey FC since 2011

Vance - who has been in charge of Isthmian League side Guernsey FC since it joined the English league system in 2011 - was put in caretaker charge of the island's representative side last year and will lead them at the Island Games later this summer.

"I've been helping out in the last couple of years because I've been able to step up to do it, but no-one else has been coming out and wanting to do it," he added to BBC Radio Guernsey.

"They're not challenged enough locally to be able to gain the experience to do that job, so it's a real problem in terms of the players that don't play for Guernsey FC, the levels are massively different.

"We need a structure in place to challenge those players to make them better."

Vance says the advantage that Guernsey had after the setting up of Guernsey FC 12 years ago has been lost - Jersey Bulls were formed in 2019 and play in the division below their island neighbours.

"When Guernsey FC started, if people look at statistics, that's the only time where we've been better than Jersey - for five years we won four Murattis and Jersey won one," added Vance.

"Now Jersey have got Jersey Bulls, not only at senior level but at under-21 and under-18 levels, and they're better than us.

"Guernsey FC made a big impact on us initially, now Jersey have overtaken us."

Vance was part of the Sylvans side that dominated Guernsey's Priaulx League from 1994 to 2002 when they won nine successive titles - but they were only crowned Channel Island champions three times from 1996 to 1998, while Guernsey had similar problems at an island level.

"We've got nothing in our locker, we haven't changed," he said.

"I played many moons ago when our teams were very successful locally.

"However, inter-island we won three Uptons, lost six and won two Murattis and lost eight, so we weren't that good.

"The problem's always been there, the only way we can improve ourselves is to change and be better than Jersey and have a better product than Jersey, and unfortunately at the moment they have a better product than us."

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