The annual showpiece – originally scheduled to take place alongside the reinstated Women’s Muratti at Springfield in May – remains postponed, rather than cancelled, as the governments of Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney continue to work through their Covid-19 lockdown exit strategies. Sporting restrictions have been eased across the Channel Islands in recent weeks while travel between Alderney and Guernsey has resumed, potentially paving the way for the men’s semi-final to be played. However, doubt over whether the finals will survive both health and logistical pressures appears to be increasing.
And it has been revealed that even an autumn or winter Muratti could be too much of a push.
‘It has got to work for all parties, both financially and logistically,’ said Jersey FA president Bradley Vowden, who will hold talks with fellow inter-insular committee members in July. ‘With the amount of games potentially being played in October, November, December, once the season is up and running; Jersey Bulls, Guernsey FC … finding free weekends for the semi-final and final, when all the best players can play, will be a challenge.
‘The organisation required to stage something like this is massive so lots of things need to fall into place to allow us to make some sort of decision – and we still may not be able to travel freely between the islands without quarantine.’
Vowden added: ‘We all hoped we would have been back playing football by now. We hoped to play our [JFA Combination] cup finals this season, but even with one-metre distancing … you just can’t play football.’
The Government of Jersey is reducing physical-distancing requirements to one metre from today – two weeks after club football training was permitted to resume in the Island.
Only the under-11 and U18 inter-island clashes between Jersey and Guernsey took place before the pandemic halted all activity in March.
