The New Home of Guernsey Football
The work to build a new home for Guernsey football is now 6 months into the project, and work is progressing on schedule, despite the impact of Storm Ciaran and the wet Autumn and Winter experienced in Guernsey.
Situated on the Victoria Avenue playing field site in St Sampsons, which is the field adjacent to The Track cycling ground, the new facility will secure the future of football in Guernsey for generations to come and provide high-quality, accessible and affordable facilities for footballers of all ages. The project will cost approximately £10m and is being funded by a £1.175m grant from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation as well as a £150,000 grant from the Premier League Stadium Fund. Additional funding has come from private donations and The Football Association HQ Grant.
The development, which will include the new GFA Office, changing rooms, grass training pitch, a floodlit 3G pitch with covered seats, along with covered terracing behind each goal, will be open to all of the local football and wider island community from 2025. The new facility, which will also include a clubhouse with fully fitted bar and kitchen, and separate meeting facilities, has been designed to ensure it meets the needs of the football community for generations to come.
Gary Roberts, CEO of the GFA, reflected on the progress of the project to date and commented:
“We are pleased and excited with how the project is progressing and, with the majority of the groundworks now completed, it is great to see the site taking shape. The base of the 3G pitch is now complete, along with the perimeter pitch fence and floodlight columns. In addition, we have seen the steel structure for the clubhouse erected and the vision we have worked on for so many years is starting to become reality. This will be the GFA’s first permanent home since it was founded in 1893, and it is going to be a fantastic home for the GFA and Guernsey football thanks to the funding support we have secured from The FA and Football Foundation, along with generous local donors.
With more than 2,000 active participants on a weekly basis in Guernsey, the facility design is based on ensuring it is accessible, inclusive and affordable for the whole community. We want as many people as possible to come and enjoy this new community facility when it opens next year and, with a little over 12 months until that time, we are looking forward to seeing the site come to life.”
Regular updates on the progress of the project are available on the GFA social media channels, including short films, which are charting the story of the new ‘Home for Guernsey Football’:
The new facility will be available to all of the footballing community in the island, and will host training and matches for clubs, small-sided opportunities, recreational football and cup finals, as part of the Guernsey FA usage plan for the site. Guernsey FC will also play home matches at the site from its expected completion in 2025, and all Guernsey representative matches, including Muratti finals, will be hosted at the new facility.