We’ll learn from last season and prosper, says Guernsey chief Tony Vance

TONY VANCE thinks Guernsey FC will be a lot better for the experience of battling relegation last season – and says staying at Step 4 ahead of the FA’s restructure is a big priority.

The Green Lions’ boss reckons he has the most unique job in Non-League football with the club’s philosophy to give youngsters on the Channel Island a long-term football pathway.

Last year – not helped by the loss of record-setting top scorer Ross Allen, who was travelling for part of the season – they fought against relegation and stayed up by seven points.

Vance was also rebuilding with a number of young players promoted into the first team. He says they’ve learnt a lot as they look to make sure they’re in the shake-up when the Bostik South runs with 20 teams in 2018-19.

“Last year was a real challenge for us,” he told The NLP. “We had to work very hard to stay in the league. It’s a really competitive league now with a lot of very good players dropping down.

“That’s changed the level to a certain degree. In the last two or three years we had some games where we were comfortable. Now most, if not all, are competitive, which is good. We learnt a lot and I’m looking forward to seeing how we shape up next year.

“The great thing for us if we can stay in the league this season when the restructure comes in it’s going to be a game changer for us financially because there’s less games. That will save us an awful lot of money in costs and travel. Maybe there will be less midweeks, which always hurt us, so it’s crucial for us to try and stay at least at this level.

“We’ve been going through a transition of bringing young players in. Last year they were thrown right into the deep end so they will be a lot better for that this year.

“I think we’re setting ourselves up for another two or three years and we’ll be ready to go again.”

The club, who have to pay their opponents’ travel expenses, are sitting out of the FA Cup and FA Trophy this coming season.

“We want to concentrate on the league this year,” Vance said, who added they plan to re-enter in the future. “We’re already pushing our players to the limit. They are amateurs who give us so much commitment and time, so this avoids that.”

Vance says he is enjoying the challenges of managing the channel island club.

“Madly, I quite enjoyed last season,” he said. “I like being challenged. Most people in my position would probably get sacked, but everyone knows over here what the situation is. We’re in a rebuilding phase and I’m really enjoying the fight.

“I always say we’re the most unique football club around – in many senses. Entering the National League System was all about getting out of comfort zone, bringing youngsters in and seeing if we can move up that way.”