It seems an appropriate time for them to return because Guernsey was named Channel Islands Sports Awards Team of the Year for 2022 after notable performances at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Lucy Beere won silver in women's bowls after a close final against Australia's Ellen Ryan.

The bowls at the Island Games this week is set to be the indoor variety.

Guernsey’s first medal in athletics at the Commonwealth Games came from Alistair Chalmers who won bronze in the men’s 400 metres hurdles in the English city last year.

It was an event at which he had won gold at the 2017 IIG held in Gotland.

The inaugural IIG had been held in July 1985.

The Isle of Man Sports Council had suggested the idea as the centre piece of the Isle's "Year of Sport".

Some 700 competitors took part from 15 nations.

A small team from St Helena travelled around 8730 kilometres to compete.

The Year of Sport Committee was chaired by Noel Cringle, a Member of the House of Keys (MHK), the lower House of the Manx Parliament Tynwald.

Cringle told the crowd at the Opening Ceremony that the Games were intended to "further friendship throughout the islands".

Lieutenant Governor Sir Nigel Cecil opened the Games.

"The concept of holding these Island Games within our Year of Sport, and bringing us all together, is a splendid one," Sir Nigel said.

"I am sure they will be a great success and be conducted in a very real spirit of enjoyment, friendship and good sportsmanship."

The original programme included athletics, badminton, five-a-side football, shooting, swimming and volleyball.

"This was a joyous occasion which brought together 15 islands of various sizes and abilities," an editorial in the Isle of Man Courier concluded as they came to a close.

"It was clear that the competitors enjoyed fresh competition with all the trappings of those other Games."

It was also obvious that many were determined to repeat the experience.

At the Closing Ceremony, Cringle informed the crowd that an International Island Games Association (IIGA) had been formed.

A "business" meeting had been held at the Palace Hotel in Douglas, attended by the managers of all 15 participating teams who "unanimously agreed to put the Games on a proper footing".

Cringle was installed as IIGA Chairman. 

An Executive Committee of five was established which also included Geoff Corlett, the first secretary and treasurer. 

Such was his service to the IIG, he was later named as "Pater Ludorum".

Guernsey Deputy Owen Le Vallee threw his island's hat into the ring as hosts for 1987.

A total of 15 islands took part and the band of the Grenadier Guards led the Opening Ceremony parade.

The flag of the host nation was carried by Jenny Nicolle, a silver medallist in women's pairs bowls at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.

"The small baby nurtured in the Isle of Man was now walking," IIGA chairman Cringle declared.

Archery, table tennis and bowls had been added to the sports programme.

The Games were formally opened by Sir Charles Frossard, Bailiff of Guernsey.

It fell to the captain of the Guernsey team John Stuart to speak the oath on behalf of all competitors.

"We declare that we will take part in the Inter Island Games of 1987 in the spirit of true sportsmanship, recognising the rules that govern them and desirous of participating in them for the honour of our island and the glory of sport," he said.

It had been a wet summer in the British Isles in 1987 and the IIGA, scheduled for September, were affected by the rain.

The criterium cycling event had been one of the most keenly anticipated events but the rain fell prompting the local newspaper to declare that "The Aquatic Games have begun".

It was perhaps ironic that play in an indoor event was also disrupted .

Condensation in the hall had proved so bad that play was delayed whilst airconditioners were installed.

The rains returned during the closing stages of the athletics programme, prompting the recommendation that an all weather track be used in future.

Even so, the assessment of the Games was positive.

"Every competitor has in my opinion gained something from these Games that they would not have got elsewhere," Le Vallee insisted as the Games came to a close.

By the time the Games returned to Guernsey in 2003, they had grown further.

There were now 2,129 competitors from 23 islands in 15 sports.

Guernsey had been confirmed as host nation in 1999.

"We twinned each school in Guernsey with an island and they adopted that Island in the year before, and during, the Games," Games director Roy Martel said.

"A number of islands took the time and trouble to visit the schools and attend assemblies or classes and in return the schools took their pupils on field trips to watch the sports in which their adopted islands were taking part."

By now, the Games programme included sailing and triathlon.

They decided to stage the Opening Ceremony of the Games on the waterfront.

It meant that spectators had a closer view of the athletes of the Games than normal.

"People who live on islands can sometimes feel isolated," IIGA President Bo Frykenstam explained.

"Coming from these communities, we have much in common, we are proud but we feel cut off from our mainlands." 

Joining the parade for the first time were competitors wearing the famous Bermuda shorts. 

Bermudans won 15 gold medals at the Games.

Football had been included for the first time in 1989, but in 2003 a group match between Rhodes and Guernsey was abandoned after five Rhodes players were dismissed by referee Wendy Toms.

A Guernsey player had also been sent off.

"We should never have agreed to play with a woman referee," Rhodes team physiotherapist Stavros Kalafatis told the Guernsey Weekly Press.

Five members of the team and the coach were given life bans by the Rhodes Island Games Association (IGA).

"We imposed a life ban to secure the spirit of the Games and express the deepest respect to the Island Games family," Rhodes IGA director Takis Milhaidis said.

"Under no circumstances do we imply that a person’s gender can play a role in his ability to mediate."

Guernsey went on to beat the Isle of Man in the gold medal match.

It was one of 55 won by the host nation in 2003.

In table tennis, triple Olympian Carl Prean from the isle of Wight was the dominant figure. He won gold in men's singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

In the cycling, the spoils in the men's criterium went to a rider wearing number 2633 from the Isle of Man, "by the width of tyre".

His name was Mark Cavendish and he also won gold in the team trial and road race.

They were among the first international titles of a career which included World Championship and Commonwealth gold medals and Olympic silver.

Cavendish also equalled Eddy Merckx's 34 stage wins in the Tour de France.

It was no wonder that Frykenstam felt able to claim, "You can see the standard has gone up since the Games started, in some instances we have famous athletes appearing."

It had been the case much earlier.

Gotland-born long jumper Mattias Sunneborn set a Swedish national record to win silver at the 1995 World Indoor Championships in Barcelona and gold at the 1996 European Indoor Championships in Stockholm.

He had set an IIG record on the Isle of Wight in 1993 to win gold as well.

At the 1997 Games in Jersey, Kelly Sotherton of the Isle of Wight set Games records in the women's 100m, 100m hurdles and long jump.

She also won the high jump and led both relays home to gold. 

Two years later in Gotland, Sotherton retained her 100m title.

Sotherton subsequently won heptathlon bronze at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics either side of a Commonwealth Games gold at Melbourne 2006.

The Cayman Islands joined the IIGA in 1997.

Their entry coincided with the emergence of a sprinting star.

At the 1999 Games in Gotland, Cydonie Mothersille beat Sotherton to the tape in the women's 200m.

Two years later, Mothersille won bronze at 200m at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton. 

She later took Commonwealth Games gold over the same distance at the New Delhi 2010 Games.

Swimmer Pál Joensen of the Faroe Islands might with some justification lay claim to the title of the greatest competitor in terms of Island Games success.

He won five gold medals when the Games were held on Rhodes in 2007 and eclipsed that achievement at the 2009 Games in Aland with eight. 

When the Games were held on the Isle of Wight in 2011, he won six individual gold medals, a silver and bronze.

In 2012, he became the first Faroese to win a World Championship medal when he took 1500m freestyle silver at the World Short Course Championships in Istanbul.

He also swam for Denmark in two Olympics.

The 2023 Games in Guernsey will be the 19th to be celebrated but the first since the Island Games flag was lowered in Gibraltar at the end of the 2019 Games.

The Opening Ceremony in St Peter Port, scheduled for next Saturday evening, is once again set to take place on the sea front.

"People still talk about the 2003 Opening Ceremony," Games director Julia Bowditch told the BBC.

"The Opening Ceremony will set the tone for the whole Games, so we're encouraging islanders to come out, cheer, wave, and have a good time."

It is set to include samba dancers, bagpipes, a big band, cheerleaders, majorettes and a vintage Guernsey tractor.

Organisers also launched a competition which encouraged residents to festoon their houses with flags to celebrate the occasion.

The first day of competition is scheduled to feature no fewer than ten sports.