Although Anguilla’s participation in a number of international football matches played on the island are disappointing – with the national team not winning any of the matches – the games are still being seen as a benefit to the Anguillian players.
This was indicated by Mr. Raymond Guishard, President of the Anguilla Football Association. He was at the time referring to two matches played on the island as part of a new tournament – the Concacaf Nations League.
In the first match, Anguilla versus French Guiana held at the Raymond E. G. Guishard Stadium in Anguilla, on Friday, September 7, the Anguilla team lost 5-nil. In the second match, St. Martin versus Guadeloupe, on Tuesday, September 11, also played in Anguilla, Guadeloupe defeated St. Martin 3-nil. There will be an upcoming match in October when team Anguilla will be playing against a team from Nicaragua. The venue is to be announced later.
Mr. Guishard is of the view that the Concacaf Nations League gave the Anguillian team an opportunity to enhance its skills, to play more football and to perform more competitively with other teams from outside Anguilla.
The matches Anguilla versus French Guiana, and St. Martin versus Guadeloupe, were orginally planned to be played in St. Martin but because of Hurricane Irma’s damage to facilities in the French island, the matches were hosted by Anguilla – a matter which Mr. Guishard welcomed. Anguilla’s facilities were also damaged but were repaired making it possible to host part of the Concacaf Nations League. “It was not a bit of damage. It was a lot of damage,” he explained, “but we decided to restore what we had to have something better. We could have just replaced the lights, but we wanted to change them for something better; and we were also able to replace the roof of the Anguilla Football Academy.”
The Anguilla Football Association President said it was the first time that Concacaf had undertaken to promote the Nations League, an event close to what is done elsewhere, giving everybody an opportunity to engage in the football sport. He expressed the hope that team Anguilla would eventually find itself in a position not just to participate in the new Concacaf tournament, but to perform well – and to win as well.
Mr. Guishard indicated that there was a need for Anguilla to have a policy whereby players representing the island abroad should have some time off to prepare themselves for the sport. “It is something that we are trying to develop, and we want to see if we can get the Government to assist us in this matter,” he stated. “When you look at various Caribbean islands, the teams there get time off to practice with full pay. This is something that we don’t have in Anguilla.” He was very appreciative of the work of the coaches and hoped that in time their efforts to develop the playing skills of the national players would pay off.
Mr. Guishard is hoping that more members of the public, as well as Government officials, would support the island’s footballers which would encourage them to perform better. He added that although the Anguilla Football Association had incurred a lot of expense to repair its facilities, following Hurricane Irma, some attention would be paid to lowering the cost of tickets for regional and international matches in Anguilla. This would not only attract more people to the events, but provide additional support for team Anguilla as well.
