Catching up with… Rob Jones, Victoria Park Director
As Victoria Park celebrates its six-month milestone, we caught up with Rob Jones for a chat about overcoming challenges, uniting the local community – on and off the pitch – and inspiring the next generation of Maya Le Tissiers and Alex Scotts to realise their football ambitions.
How has Victoria Park been received, particularly by the football community?
This new facility will undoubtedly offer the footballing community something very different and, naturally, there have been lots of questions about how it will affect the ‘status quo’. And, of course, people are right to question this. However, our intention has always been for this to be entirely complementary- and enhancing- to what exists in Guernsey, rather than replacing anything, and I’m pleased to say that after these first six months, the buzz and feel it has generated have been overwhelmingly positive.
I think getting that message across was possibly one of the biggest challenges we faced. How would the clubs buy into it? How would the youth sections get on board? I must say, the overall sense of positivity from everyone in the community has been fantastic.
The overall sense of positivity from everyone in the community has been fantastic. I’d like to see more community use, and we've got lots of plans in that direction.
Has there been any feedback from further afield about the stadium?
We had the FA regional representative over soon after we launched - he's probably been to every single ground in the UK – so to have him describe this as national league, if not division two, type facility, was incredible.
It’s not just the pitch that’s impressive; it's the way that the whole site flows. We have the modern changing rooms, a state-of-the-art physio room and contemporary offices, as well as the wider stadium facilities. It's great to have that recognition and appreciation from some of the most esteemed figures within football.
How is Victoria Park used to support the wider community?
I’d like to see more community use, and we've got lots of plans in that direction. The schools are starting to play their tournaments down here, and we've got the Comets starting soon, working alongside Le Rondin, we've also got Just Play starting, which supports the learning disabled.
Beyond the action on the main pitch, we also have the green light to host non-football events on that far field.
Can you tell us a bit more about the type of events you have in mind?
When we applied for permission, we envisaged staging concerts over on the grass training pitches at the back; we could see family days and all sorts of local events bringing the community together. We've only just scratched the surface, but our sponsors and supporters have put a lot of money into this site and are expecting to see a return on their investment, so we’re focused on delivering on that expectation.
We’re committed to supporting the local community, providing every opportunity for every single person in society to come and use this facility.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the future?
I think Guernsey football was probably due for a change and, although it’s going to take a few years, we want to find and support the island’s next Maya Le Tissier, Alex Scott, Jack Griffin, and Chloe Ingrouille. We want to create that next generation of young players, heading away to develop their football careers – and we want more of them.
With a facility like this, people don’t yet realise how good players will become by using this and the other facilities in the island over the next few years.
So, watch this space – in five years, let's see how many more we've got playing off-island.
