The Jersey Football Association Council rubber-stamped the move this week and the cost will be borne by players and the JFA next season.JFA president Charlie Tostevin, who will be re-elected unopposed into office at tonight’s annual general meeting at Fort Regent, said: ‘We’ve bitten the bullet and decided to go ahead even though we are currently without a sponsor.
But I’m hopeful that we will get some form of sponsorship soon as we currently have two marketing companies looking into that for us.’I’m delighted that we are entering again, we had a good campaign in our first season and I’m sure the players will be looking forward to competing again.
Not to have entered again would have been a backward step for football and we will resist that for as long as we can.’JFA members will be working like mad to find finance for the players while it’s also been agreed that the players will be charged too at £75 for each away game.’These sort of games are so important for our players.
We have to keep giving then the chance of playing a higher standard of football and if we don’t do that they will not improve.’It’s going to be a tough exercise all round and I’m sure that those who represented us in the Island Games in Guernsey so well will now be looking to making their débuts in the South-West Counties Championship.’The cost of competing in the SWCC last season was £14,500.
The forthcoming competition will rise to £17,000 as there will be five matches this time compared to four last season.Jersey pay for their away travel and they meet the costs of teams that come to the Island.
The expenditure also provides for three Jersey referees to officiate in SWCC games out of the Island.Provisional dates for next season are: Cornwall, away, 11 October; Dorset, home, 15 November; Sussex, home, 31 January and a double-header away to the Army and the RAF on the weekend of 5-7 December.
