O'Hara expects Guernsey problems

Deputy Mike O'Hara hopes Guernsey United are a success

Guernsey's Culture and Leisure Minister Deputy Mike O'Hara believes a new island football team may cause problems in the island.

A new side, Guernsey United, are set to play in the Kent Premier League.

While warmly welcoming the move, he admits the team, which in theory would take players away from other island sides, could cause problems.

"I suspect it might cause some disruption in the local soccer situation," he told BBC Guernsey.

As a department we are happy that they will use the facilities that Culture and Leisure have to offer Deputy Mike O'Hara

"But in at the end of the day I think it'll be good for sport as a whole and especially football as they will play in a different league," he added.

The organisers of the side, who include current and former members of the Guernsey Football Association Executive, who only two months ago steered through controversial plans to re-structure the on-island football league, had approached the State before going public with their plans.

"As a department we are happy that they will use the facilities that Culture and Leisure have to offer," O'Hara said.

No clubs have publically commented on the plans yet, but BBC Guernsey understands that some are unhappy at the impact the team may have on the league by taking players away to play in the United Kingdom.