Pétanque in Guernsey

Pétanque has a small but active competitive scene on Guernsey, the second-largest of the Channel Islands, organized under the Guernsey Petanque Association (GPA). The island competes as its own jurisdiction in CEP (Confédération Européenne de Pétanque) events and maintains a long-running rivalry with neighboring Jersey.

Federation

The Guernsey Petanque Association was created around 2016 as a governing body to let Guernsey compete in CEP and FIPJP events as a jurisdiction in its own right, separate from England. Guernsey appears among the affiliated federations on both FIPJP's Europa Confederation listing and CEP's own members list, and the island has fielded national teams at CEP European Championships. The GPA runs its own site at guernseypetanqueassociation.wordpress.com and can be contacted via gpa@suremail.gg. Dave Bartram, a Guernsey resident since 1997 and a former Barclays Bank employee of over 35 years, is confirmed as President of the GPA; he is also the driving force behind QEII Petanque Club, where he acts as development officer and coach (contactable separately via qeiipetanqueclub@suremail.gg).

The GPA should not be confused with Guernsey Club De Petanque LBG, an older, separate single club founded in 1984 that predates the GPA by more than three decades. The LBG club is not a renamed version of the association - it continues to operate as one of the GPA's two affiliated member clubs, running its own domestic program including the island's marquee open tournament.

Domestic Scene

The GPA has two affiliated clubs: Guernsey Club De Petanque LBG, which plays at the Petanque Centre in St Andrew's (having moved there in 2000 after playing at the Friquet Flower Centre), and QEII Petanque Club, based on four terrains beside the QEII Marina in St Peter Port. LBG is run by a committee elected annually at the club's AGM in November; specific office-holder names were not available from primary sources at the time of writing. QEII Petanque Club grew out of a lunchtime business league that Dave Bartram helped establish in 2012, working with Jack Honeybill of the Town Centre Partnership and a grant from the HSBC Charitable Trust; the first summer had 12 teams, and the league has since grown to around 50 teams of three or four players, split across a spring season (April to June) and a summer season (July to September), playing weekdays between noon and 2pm. The Guernsey Open, the island's largest tournament, draws players from the UK, France, and Jersey; the 2026 edition is scheduled for 4-6 September. A youth pathway has developed since the 2019 Specsavers Youth Games introduced a cadet club, aimed at eventually producing competitors for Youth World and European events. LBG members also travel off-island for competitions and social trips to Jersey, France, the UK mainland, and the Netherlands.

International Results

Guernsey's best-known fixture is the Victor Hugo Inter-Island Trophy, an annual inter-insular match against Jersey contested every year since 1987, alternating hosts between the two islands across 12 singles, 12 doubles, and 4 triples games. Jersey has won the large majority of editions to date. Unlike Jersey, Guernsey does not take part in the Home Nations Championship alongside England, Scotland, and Wales.

At the 3rd CEP European Championship (Doubles), held in Lorca, Spain, 18-21 June 2026 with 33 teams entered, a Guernsey men's doubles pair beat England 13-12, described by the island's own club coverage as the best result a Guernsey team has ever achieved at this level. In the same championship week, a separate Guernsey ladies team beat a strong Portugal side in the knockout stages of the accompanying Nations League team event before losing a close 13-10 quarter-final against England. Guernsey also competes at the individual level in CEP European Championships from time to time, though full historical results were not available to us.