Anyone whose last trip to what was formerly known as ‘The Track’ in Victoria Avenue, was to have a go at karting or to see a Belgrave Wanderers home game is in for a surprise and a pretty big one at that. You don’t need to be a football fanatic to appreciate the transformation the site has undergone to become a state-of-the-art football and events venue under its new name, Victoria Park.
Heralding a new era for Guernsey football, the new site, which has a capacity of 3,000 including 600 covered seats, is a triumph for those involved in its development and boasts a quality of facilities of which the island can be proud. The project was privately funded, including substantial investment from the Football Association, the Football Foundation, and local benefactors.
Two people who are well known in local football circles, Rob Jones (the man behind Aztech Soccer and also director of Victoria Park) and his counterpart Tony Vance both played pivotal roles in the development project, which they see very much as a community facility.
“Anybody can rent the pitch and that’s the whole idea behind the community aspect of the project. We want everyone to be able to say that whilst Victoria Park is ‘Guernsey’s home of football’ and it hosts Murattis and all the big Guernsey FC games, that they can play on the pitch too,” explained Rob.
Equally, sponsorship packages range from founder partnerships (appropriately capped at 11) to gold, silver and bronze packages, meaning that a small business or even sole trader could afford to have a branded pitch side board.
The pitch itself is a world-class 3G all-weather surface, the same as that at the Manchester City stadium. With a suite of modern changing rooms for both players and referees – including a Guernsey-themed changing room for any team representing the island irrespective of age – modern training and rehabilitation facilities and physiotherapy rooms, this is definitely Guernsey punching above its weight. Also, with a contemporary restaurant and sports bar on site, the ground has been compared favourably with many sites in the UK, as Tony explained:
“The FA has said this is better than many National League teams’ grounds. They have been blown away when they’ve been over, and they see so many pitches in the UK.”
Guernsey Football Association is based at Victoria Park and runs the facility on a day-to-day basis. Guernsey Football Club now has a permanent base, meaning that it enjoys all the advantages of hosting home games that weren’t possible with its previous nomadic existence of ‘borrowing’ grounds around the island for training purposes. Tony is certain that this has elevated the team’s performance and confidence.
“Our levels have definitely gone up, which is really exciting. It’s the difference between renting or buying a house. Now Guernsey football owns its own house.”
And this ‘home advantage’ is also relevant to the next generation.
“Talking about the youngsters, if you’ve got say an eight-year-old child playing, by the time they reach the Guernsey senior teams they will have probably played on this pitch 100+ times. So the thought isn’t as daunting as coming out for the first time for a big match – the ‘Wembley factor’.”
The next generation is something both Rob and Tony are clearly passionate about which explains their continuing, tireless drive for all things football. Whilst the Aztech Soccer Centre continues to thrive, the business now runs additional soccer schools and one-to-ones from Victoria Park. Through the new facility, Aztech has been able to increase the number of youngsters attending football sessions significantly. Rob’s former employer, Aztec, still sponsors the boot-locker which lends appropriate footwear for any youngster unable to supply his/her own, underlining the community, all-inclusive ethos that underpins Victoria Park.
Looking ahead, there is certainly no shortage of ideas. Rob would love the opportunity to expand local youngsters’ playing experience.
“The icing on the cake would be to get our young players, aged seven to 14, off the island two or three times a year and then get teams back to Guernsey. We could have an island youth cup, maybe starting with the British islands and then expanding into Europe.
“We also have a full-size grass pitch at Victoria Park, which we want to develop for additional tournaments. We are also mulling the concept of holding non-football events here such as concerts and family days. This would make it a true community hub. Of course, we do want to develop the next Alex Scott and the next Maya Le Tissier, but also we want to see as much community engagement down here as possible.”
The Victoria Park project seems to have created a threshold to the next phase of football in Guernsey, both for current and future generations. The numbers speak for themselves. Looking back 20 or so years, there were only two or three individuals employed in football related jobs; now that figure is around 30, three of whom are dedicated to developing the women’s game. With role models like Maya and the recent successes of The Lionesses, there is massive interest from girls coming through the Aztech Academy.
With such an amazing facility open to all in the community and with enthusiasts like Tony and Rob playing such a key part, the future of local football looks bright. Tony summed it up perfectly:
“Victoria Park is an elite venue, but we don’t want it just being used by elite players.”
