Alderney

Alderney Home 2019

Fairly plain, with a white trim and black sleeves to accent a deep blue shirt. Works really quite well and the embroidered VSN and Alderney badges stand out nicely and should last well. They’re strangely stitched onto solid patches but it works. I’m no fan of sponsors, we’re talking international football here, but Alderney Shipping is, at least, on brand and have a similar colour scheme. The line map of Alderney on the back is also a nice touch so overall comes out as a positive.

Alderney is a bit strange in that this is the shirt of the club side that competes in the Guernsey Priaulx League as well as the national side who are the same thing. They wore this shirt to come 2nd in the league, after a season-long battle with St Martins AC as well as in the 2019 Muratti and at the 2019 Inter Games. In the Muratti they hit their 99th year without a win, with a 2-0 loss to Jersey, though in fairness their population is much smaller. In the modern era, the games remain close, but still losses. A 4-2 loss to Hitra in the pouring rain and a 7-1 thrashing by the Isle of Man set them up in a placement game against Orkney at the Inter Games where a rare win let them finish 7th! A respectable 3-2 loss in the semi-final of the inter-island Wheway Cup capped a good season.

In general Alderney are the minnow of Channel Islands football. 1 win in the 115 year history of the Muratti Vase back in 1920 (it was in the final though!) hardly reflects the effort they’ve put in to join the big rivalry of Jersey and Guernsey. Results have improved massively in recent years but they’re still falling short. The Island Games have provided some much needed wins, but they aren’t common, and the nomads continue on as one of football’s most persistent minnows.

They’ll be expected at the 2021 Island Games, with Guernsey providing a familiar backdrop. Can they take a few wins under their belts?