The Track is a multi-use stadium in Saint Sampson,

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

. It is the home ground of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team Belgrave Wanderers and is also used to host

Guernsey official football team The Guernsey official football team is the official football team representing the island of Guernsey (which is not part of the United Kingdom, but is a Crown dependency) in non-FIFA international football matches. It is not affiliated with F ...

's home

Muratti The Muratti Vase is an annual men's and women's football competition, inaugurated in 1905, between teams representing the Channel Islands of Alderney, Guernsey and Jersey. The larger islands of Guernsey and Jersey dominate the competition, wit ...

games. It also has Guernsey's only

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are als ...

track around the outside.

Ownership

The Track is owned by the Guernsey Amalgamated Football Committee. Belgrave Wanderers used to share The Track with Guernsey Rangers until 2007 when Guernsey Rangers sold their share in the Guernsey Amalgamated Football Committee after they moved their home games to St. Andrew's. Northerners AC also used to play their games here until 1973 when they moved to their current home at Northfield.

Capacity

The Track's capacity is 3,000. Its record attendance was 12,692 in 1951 for the Muratti Final between Guernsey and

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

Usage

The Track was the main stadium that hosted Guernsey's Muratti tournament games until 2003, when Guernsey's Muratti games were moved to

Footes Lane Footes Lane is a multi-use sports stadium in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey and is the main sports venue on the island. It has a capacity of 5,000 with 720 seated. The stadium is the national stadium of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Usage The sta ...

. Because of poor performances at Footes Lane and criticism from fans regarding the stadium's athletics track impairing views of games and affecting the atmosphere, Guernsey's Muratti games were moved back to The Track in 2009. The Track has also been used as the home ground for the Guernsey Senior County League representative side in the English

FA Inter-League Cup The FA Inter-League Cup (formerly known as the FA National League System Cup or FA NLS Cup) is a football competition run by The Football Association. It was created in the 2003–04 season to provide an English representative in the UEFA Reg ...

. In 2012, it was suggested that Guernsey F.C. would move from

to The Track if they continued to rise through the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

as Footes Lane would require further development. This, however, was denied by Guernsey F.C. chairman, Steve Dewsnip. The Track has also been used to host

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. A kart track circles the football pitch and karts are available for hire.

Famous games at the Track

* 12 May 1948 Guernsey v

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

Reception

The Track had originally been considered as the best place to watch team sport in Guernsey, but this idea is changing in favour of Footes Lane. It has a reputation of being dusty and having an uneven surface.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Track, The Sports venues in Guernsey Multi-purpose stadiums Football venues in Guernsey Kart circuits