It’s a rare honour to help get a team’s story up and running. But that’s what we did in summer 2019 with a trip to Jersey Bulls. Going into the 2019-20 season, the Bulls were only a year old and were preparing for their first-ever campaign as members of the Combined Counties League. In fact, they’d never been part of the English pyramid before. For the time being, it’s unlikely we’ll meet in competitive circumstances. Mind you, an annual trip to the Channel Islands wouldn’t go amiss. And maybe their progress will bring us even closer together based on their initial league adventures.
Jersey Bulls: The Facts
Springfield Stadium,
Janvrin Rd, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 4LF
For this tale, there’s a bit of context. And we’ll try and serve it up as best we can. The bottom line is that Jersey’s own football league – the Jersey Combination – is as good as it gets for teams on the island. There’s no route into England from winning the competition. And that’s despite it being affiliated to the FA! To square this circle, a bid was made for Jersey to become part of UEFA – not unlike Gibraltar. The bid was turned down as Jersey isn’t independent – like, er, Gibraltar. Anyway, the Bulls formed in summer 2018 and decided they were going to try and join the English leagues.
The Bulls had the green light and so it came to be; the islanders competing in the Combined Counties League. At the start, they started like a rocket too. The 2019-20 campaign saw them top the pile with 27 wins from 27 – only for the dreaded Covid to curb the campaign. Worse still is that league officials refused to promote or relegate because there had been no conclusion to the season. The next year saw them start with four wins from four before the same thing happened again. And their third season ended up being disappointing by comparison; finishing the season in fourth.
Jersey Bulls: Record vs Boro'
Pl
W
D
L
F
A
GD
Pts*
WR%
Overall
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Home
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Away
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
League
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Cup
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
n/a
0%
* league points only
Jersey Bulls: Result-by-Result (Boro' Scoring First)
No competitive meetings
No Players
How to get to Jersey Bulls – Travel Information – Distance: 255 miles
By Road
Now, you *can* drive this one (we think) – but it does involve taking a boat. And more than half the distance is actually on water. Google also says you can go to Dover, hop across to Calais and drive through northern France.
Let’s face it. You aren’t driving this one. Are you?
There is a small car park at the stadium, but we don’t know if you can use it. We’re not entirely sure you need a car full stop once you’re on the island of Jersey.
By Rail
Unless there’s a secret underwater line from Weymouth to Jersey or something, this isn’t relevant.
