Guernsey

 

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vs. Isle of Wight (1:2) | Island Games | 2023 in Guernsey

If you read this blog chronologically, which I know no one does, you will have seen that I have travelled through all the Channel Islands in the summer of 2023. Indeed, I even mentioned being on a ferry to Guernsey in my Parishes of Jersey 2 post just before this one. I would be lying saying I travelled the Channel Islands to get a Guernsey shirt, but it certainly was part of the mission. While shirts from the Isle of Man and Jersey were once quite easily available, Guernsey never really sold any shirts. Luckily, that changed in 2023, when Guernsey hosted the Island Games and finally sold their brand new official jerseys for about 40 GBP.

Now, getting it was still definitely a bit of an adventure. It wasn't for sale in Saint Peter Port, the Guernsey capital, but rather in an indoor tennis court on the other end of the island, in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, I went to Guernsey with my car and thus could navigate 20 minutes throuh narrow village roads to get to that tennis hall - and buy the last shirt they had in stock. It might have been the last overall, as the shop was sold out ever since, if the homepage is to be trusted.

Now this shirt is not beautiful, at all. It is a simple green template with sponsor print. But it is definitely rare and I was happy to take it out while in Guernsey, getting a picture of me on the main street of Saint Peter Port (see below). I was also lucky enough to stay in the same hotel as the Western Isles football team, though they had no shirt for me, and see parts of the opening ceremony of the Island Games, as my ferry away from Guernsey was significantly delayed. I would have loved to stay for the games, but any accommodation was sold out almost a year prior, unfortunately.

Me in Saint Peter Port