Footes Lane is a multi-use sports stadium in

Saint Peter Port St. Peter Port (french: Saint-Pierre Port) is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958. St. ...

, 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 stadium is used for a number of sports and is used by the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team,

Guernsey RFC Guernsey Rugby Football Club is an amateur rugby union team who play at Footes Lane in St Peter Port on the Channel Island of Guernsey. The club was formed in 1928. The club runs two senior teams, a veterans side and a colts side. Their first ...

who play in

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, ...

following promotion in the 2019-20 season. The stadium also hosts Guernsey's annual

Siam Cup The Siam Cup is an annual rugby union competition held between the Channel Islands clubs of Jersey Reds and Guernsey. It was first contested in 1920. The trophy is the second oldest rugby trophy in the world to be contested after the Calcutta ...

games against

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds is a rugby club based in Jersey, Channel Islands that currently competes at the RFU Championship, which is the second tier of English professional rugby. Until season 2022/23, the professional arm of Jersey Reds was part of Jers ...

when the match is played in Guernsey. The stadium also hosts

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 ...

and hosted a Hampshire Cup match in 2010 with Guernsey side Guernsey Rangers defeating Hamble 4–2. It is the home ground of Guernsey who play in the Isthmian League Division 1 South. The team's first competitive match against Knaphill F.C. ended in a 5–0 win to Guernsey. In addition, the ground from 2003 to 2009 hosted Guernsey's

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 before the future games were moved to

The Track ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

due to fans complaining that the presence of the athletics track between the grandstands and the pitch put the spectators too far away from the game action. It is also noted that Guernsey did not win a single Muratti while playing at Footes Lane. The ground is also used for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

as seen by the running track around the outside of the pitch. Footes Lane in addition hosts the annual Guernsey Marathon and was also used for the athletics events at the

2003 Island Games The 2003 Island Games were the tenth Island Games, and were held in Guernsey, from 28 June 4 to July 4 2003. Medal table Sports The sports chosen for the games were: External links Guernsey 2003 {{Island Games Island Games Sport in Guern ...

. In addition,

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

is also played there, mainly hosting Guernsey's representative team.

Grandstand

Footes Lane's grandstand was completed in time for the

at a cost of £1.2 million. Within its first year of construction it won a Civic Trust award for architectural design. Additional club and function room facilities were added in 2011.

References

{{Guernsey topics , state=collapsed Sports venues in Guernsey National stadiums Saint Peter Port Guernsey F.C. Multi-purpose stadiums Football venues in Guernsey Athletics (track and field) venues in Guernsey