Guernsey FC manager Tony Vance has said he is "dumbfounded" by a decision to strip his side of home advantage in their play-off final.
The Green Lions had been due to host Peacehaven and Telscombe in the Southern Combination Premier Division play-off final on Sunday, 10 May.
But with the island having its annual Liberation Day celebrations that weekend there have been difficulties in arranging travel for the game.
It has led to the Southern Combination Football League rearranging the game for either Tuesday 12 or Wednesday, 13 May on the English mainland – a decision which Guernsey FC say they are considering lodging an appeal against.
"I think dumbfounded is an understatement," Vance told BBC Radio Guernsey about his feelings when he heard the news.
"The joy and excitement of having a home play-off, which we'd earned, and then suddenly being given a bombshell.
"Those are the rules – whoever finishes higher gets the home play-off.
"We will do anything we can to help people get over – it is logically difficult, particularly on a Liberation Day weekend, so we were prepared to do that and then before we even got the chance we were given the bombshell that we were no longer having the game."
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'What's happened isn't right'
Guernsey earned the right to host the final as they finished the season in third place, two places higher than Peacehaven.
The islanders beat Horsham YM 3-0 in the play-off semi-final on Saturday afternoon while Peacehaven were 1-0 winners at second-placed Haywards Heath Town that evening.
Guernsey are hoping to be promoted back to the eighth tier of English football at the first attempt, after being relegated from the Isthmian League last season.
When approached by the BBC, the Southern Counties Football League said they would not comment on the situation.
But Vance says home advantage at Victoria Park would have been a big advantage for his side.
"What it can do to the home team is huge in terms of you're in a comfortable surrounding, you know the pitch, you know everything about it, the dressing room, the whole matchday experience, that can't be underestimated," he added.
"In addition to that, when the noise is like it is – and I've played in games and coached in games when you're on the other side of it when the noise is just unbelievable – it can really have an effect on you.
"Since we started this campaign we've strived to get a home play-off, so this decision has been made within 24 hours after an entire season of effort from the players, people who book the travel, everyone and anyone around the football club, and it could be taken away from us and we're extremely disappointed and frustrated.
"What's happened isn't right."
Related internet links
- Guernsey FC
