This Is Jersey

By Rob Batiste

MURATTI supporters crying out for a close-up view of the Centenary Muratti could get their wish - at Foote’s Lane.

Despite an 850-signature petition to take the biggest match in CI football back to the Track, plans are afoot to give fans a better atmosphere at Foote’s Lane which, since 2003, has staged all the island’s major games.

Darren Duquemin, representing match sponsors Cherry Godfrey Finance, said yesterday that exciting developments, which will be unveiled next month, should reduce the clamour for the game to go back to the Track.

‘Cherry Godfrey will be revealing their plans for the centenary game to football officials on 26 August,’ he said.

‘Plans to get spectators close to the action will be unveiled then.’ Duquemin would not go into greater detail but said that he was confident their proposals would make for a ‘memorable occasion that will be remembered for years to come’.

‘We want to make it the perfect celebration of the Muratti centenary.’ Duquemin is aware of the strength of feeling against the use of Foote’s Lane, where the main complaint is a lack of atmosphere because most spectators are kept so far away from the action.

‘We urge people to keep an open mind until they have seen the presentation.

‘It will excite them, that’s all I can say,’ Duquemin said, adding that ‘Cherry Godfrey were delighted to be asked for an opinion.

‘They [the sponsor] decided the best was to respond is to stage an open evening.

We are in the process of inviting council delegates to the presentation at Beau Sejour.’