The Georgetown Football Association (GFA) in collaboration with Ansa McAl officially launched the 2016 Stag Beer Premier League yesterday at a simple ceremony held at the entity’s Beterverwagting (BV) Headquarters.
The event, which will commence tomorrow (Sunday) at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground, will feature eight teams under the umbrella of the GFA competing in a two-round championship.
In the opening fixture at 18:30hrs, Santos will tackle Sunburst Camptown while Western Tigers will faceoff with Riddim Squad in the feature matchup at 20:30hrs. The other competing teams in the event are Beacons, Police FC, Northern Rangers and Flamingo.
Ansa McAl PRO, Darshanie Yussuf during a brief address said, “Football isn’t only being played at the (GFF) Elite League level; we (Ansa McAl) want to see football being played throughout Guyana.
“Ansa McAl wants to own structured football at all levels; we’re willing to support once it’s done in a structure manner and one where the players will be the ones benefiting in the long run,” Yussuf added.
GFA President Clifton Hickens said, “This is our first approach to Ansa McAl and we were greeted with open arms. Next year, we want to see more of our teams in the Elite League but in order us to do that, we will have to build capacity in terms of developing more first division players at a club level.
“Like Ansa McAl, we’re asking other stakeholders to come on board because we’re seeing the benefits from developing football at all level and, if you have the youths of this country do something constructive with their energy, I think society will develop in terms of morals and we’ll have less perpetrators of violence,” said Hicken.
Following the conclusion of the opening day, the event will resume on Wednesday with another doubleheader while the GFA is also set to launch its second division championship shortly.
