Preview: Ynys Môn’s footballers ready to go for 2023 Guernsey Island Games this weekend

This weekend marks the start of the 19th Island Games, which will take place in Guernsey.

It will be the third time that the Channel Island in the English Channel near the French coast has hosted the games, the first being in 1987 and the second in 2003.

The games are normally staged every two years, but the 2021 event was cancelled due to Covid.

Gibraltar hosted the last Island Games in 2019, the same year a one-off Inter-Games football tournament was held on Anglesey. Gibraltar did not have sufficient facilities to host a soccer competition.

Ynys Môn men won their tournament, beating Guernsey 2-1 in the final at Holyhead Hotspur’s New Stadium, while the women were runners-up, losing 2-1 to Isle of Man in their final.

This year Anglesey will send two strong football squads to Guernsey, both the men and women including some of the heroes of 2019, as well as many new faces.

Trearddur Bay assistant-boss Mel McGinness, who scored the winner for Ynys Môn in the 2019 final, will lead the men’s squad, while Llangefni Town Ladies manager Dan Gregg, whose team has made massive strides in the two years since they formed, is in charge of the women’s crew.

The men are in Group B alongside Isle of Man, Falkland Islands and Shetland Islands, while the women join hosts Guernsey and Western Isles in Group C.

GROUPS AND FIXTURES

MEN’S TOURNAMENT (YNYS MON IN GROUP B)

SUNDAY, JULY 9
2.30 pm: Isle of Man v Falkland Islands
6.30 pm: Ynys Mon v Shetland Islands

MONDAY, JULY 10
6.30 pm: Falkland Islands v Ynys Mon
6.30 pm: Isle of Man v Shetland Islands

TUESDAY, JULY 11
6.30 pm: Falkland Islands v Shetland Islands
6.30 pm: Isle of Man v Ynys Mon

WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT (YNYS MON IN GROUP C)

SUNDAY, JULY 9
10.30 am: Western Isles v Ynys Mon

MONDAY, JULY 10
2.30 pm: Guernsey v Ynys Mon

TUESDAY, JULY 11
2.30 pm: Guernsey v Western Isles

SQUADS

Ynys Môn men

Huw Shaw (Bangor 1876)
Carl Jones (Bangor 1876)
Dan McGinness (Trearddur Bay)
Gari Owen (Llangefni Town)
Tomos Clarke (Bangor 1876)
Cai Powell Roberts (Caernarfon Town)
Dion Evans (Glantraeth)
Gerwyn Roberts (Llangefni Town)
Sol Williams (Trearddur Bay)
Osian Jones (Mynydd Llandegai)
Cian Owen (Llanfairpwll)
Kaine Bentley (Trearddur Bay)
Jack Smith (Llangefni Town)
Sam Gregson (Holyhead Hotspur)
Jack Walsh (Holyhead Hotspur)
Mel McGinness (Trearddur Bay)
Liam Morris (Bangor 1876)
Matt Reynolds (Cemaes Bay)
Sam Jones (Llandudno)

Manager: Mel McGinness
Assistant-Manager: Martin Jones
GK Coach: Gareth Aled Owen

Ynys Môn women

Ceri Pritchard (Amlwch Town)
Jessica Marshall (Llangefni Town)
Marissa George (Llangefni Town)
Sara Furlong (Amlwch Town)
Llinos Hughes (Llangefni Town)
Carol Lewis (c – Amlwch Town)
Emma Roberts (Amlwch Town)
Ashleigh Jones (Trearddur Bay)
Cerys Gadd (Amlwch Town)
Joanna Bramwell (Amlwch Town)
Charlotte Gill (Huddersfield Town)
Nia Ginnelly (vc – Llangefni Town)
Catrin George (Llangefni Town)
Ellie Sian Jones (Amlwch Town)
Hannah Owen (Llangefni Town)
Jen Cox (Llangefni Town)
Jess Jones (Llangefni Town)
Mia Roberts (Bangor 1876)
Tesni Hughes (Amlwch Town)

Manager: Dan Gregg
Assistant-Manager: David Jones
Coach: Liam Ewing