Vance 'dumbfounded' by Guernsey FC play-off switch
Guernsey FC manager Tony Vance says he is "dumbfounded" by a decision to strip his side of home advantage in their play-off final.
Tony Vance has managed Guernsey FC since the club was founded in 2011, leading them to two promotions and one relegation [Fran Torode] Guernsey FC manager Tony Vance has said he is "dumbfounded" by a decision to strip his side of home advantage in their play-off final. The Green Lions had been due to host Peacehaven and Telscombe in the Southern Combination Premier Division play-off final on Sunday, 10 May. But with the island having its annual Liberation Day celebrations that weekend there have been difficulties in arranging travel for the game.
It has led to the Southern Combination Football League rearranging the game for either Tuesday 12 or Wednesday, 13 May on the English mainland - a decision which Guernsey FC say they are considering lodging an appeal against. "I think dumbfounded is an understatement," Vance told BBC Radio Guernsey about his feelings when he heard the news. "The joy and excitement of having a home play-off, which we'd earned, and then suddenly being given a bombshell.
"Those are the rules - whoever finishes higher gets the home play-off. "We will do anything we can to help people get over - it is logically difficult, particularly on a Liberation Day weekend, so we were prepared to do that and then before we even got the chance we were given the bombshell that we were no longer having the game. " Guernsey FC stripped of home advantage in play-offs Fazakerley double helps Guernsey FC reach play-off final 'What's happened isn't right' Guernsey FC's players thought they would be playing their play-off final in front of their own fans [Fran Torode] Guernsey earned the right to host the final as they finished the season in third place, two places higher than Peacehaven.
The islanders beat Horsham YM 3-0 in the play-off semi-final on Saturday afternoon while Peacehaven were 1-0 winners at second-placed Haywards Heath Town that evening. Guernsey are hoping to be promoted back to the eighth tier of English football at the first attempt, after being relegated from the Isthmian League last season. When approached by the BBC, the Southern Counties Football League said they would not comment on the situation.