Vance proud of Guernsey FC squad despite relegation

Tony Vance had never suffered a relegation as Guernsey FC manager

Tony Vance says he is proud of his Guernsey FC players despite the club's first-ever relegation.

The Green Lions finished the season a point from safety in Isthmian League South Central as they dropped out of the eighth tier of English football after 12 years.

Vance has blooded a number of teenage players in his squad as he looks to build the foundations for a sustainable homegrown future for the islanders, who have just moved to their new Victoria Park ground.

"It's been an unbelievable effort. I think on 1 February we had 21 points, we finished with 42, so we doubled our tally," he told BBC Radio Guernsey.

"We nearly pulled off a miracle, so the players deserve all the plaudits, they've been magnificent. We took it to the last game and lost by a point.

"To go down on 42 points is very harsh, because that's actually our biggest points haul in seven years, and yet we've still gone down, so I'm very proud of the effort of the young lads and it puts us in good stead for whatever happens next season."

'We took a risk'

Brandon Wallace was one of a number of young players to establish themselves in the Guernsey FC side this season

Since Guernsey won promotion to the Isthmian League in 2013 they have often struggled against relegation.

Since 2017 they have always finished in the bottom third and were two places off the drop in the previous two campaigns.

"You've got significant levels of players playing in this league for a lot of money," explained Vance, whose players are all amateur.

"It's a tough, unforgiving league, and we've enjoyed the challenges.

"What we've had to do for, certainly the last six or seven years, is survive, and every year we've done that.

"We were stagnating for six or seven years, always fighting relegation, let's try and play a different brand of football and bring the youngsters through.

"We took a risk and need nearly did it, but what it means is we drop down a level obviously.

"We know it's not going to be easy because Jersey Bulls had been in there four years and haven't got out.

"So it's going to be tough, but what it does mean is we can perhaps play more front-foot football and that's what we're destined to do and what we're trying to do."

Vance 'all in' to stay as manager

Guernsey FC have won just 11 of their 42 games this season

Vance has been the only man to manage Guernsey FC since the club was formed in 2011.

He led the club to back-to-back promotions from the Combined Counties League in his first two seasons in charge - as well as making the semi-finals of the FA Vase in 2013.

It is a competition that he hopes the club can enter once again next season.

"We have to be better than what we were because we got relegated, but what it does is it gives us is new opportunities," Vance said.

"We're going to look to go into the FA Cup and FA Vase, so it provides more excitement for the fans."

And he says he feels he is the right man to lead Guernsey FC forward, even after their recent struggles in the eighth tier.

"There's a few people that don't really understand it and they don't really get it," he said.

"They might want someone else to do it, but I'm here until someone else can do the job.

"It's not easy and it's a full-time job that isn't a job, if that makes sense.

"I've got a few more years I can do. I need to find somebody else had to who wants to step up and take us on and I'll walk them through the door.

"But I'm all in and I think pretty much everyone is, and that's the best thing about it."