The climatic stages of the respective Regional Association (RA) of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) is expected to intensify as teams battle to secure a place among the eight qualifiers.
The champion of each RA will be rewarded with qualification to the federation’s play-off competition which will be contested next month to determine who will occupy the two places available for next season’s Elite League.
From the just concluded 10-team Elite League, bottom team Milerock FC has been relegated to second tier football and will be replaced by the winner of the upcoming play-offs. Ninth place finishers, Victoria Kings, will have a golden opportunity to retain a place in the Elite League when they meet with the runners-up of the RAs play-off for the final spot in Guyana’s premier football league competition.
Inaugural champions of the federation’s Elite League, Slingerz FC, continues to dominate the West Demerara FA’s Senior Men’s League and are favorites to reclaim their place among Guyana’s Elite teams. The highly talented Slingerz unit, coached by former national captain, Charles Pollard has easily brushed aside their first four opponents with 41 unanswered goals and are seemingly destined to conquer the other four teams and capture the second tier title for the West side.
A glance at the other second tier league competitions currently suggest that Beacons of Bartica and Monedderlust of Berbice, should they prevail, and could be chief opposition to Slingerz in the play-offs. The champion of the Rupununi FA must also be a contender as well, but not those from Essequibo Coast and Pomeroon, East Bank or Georgetown FAs. The Upper-Demerara FA, who is yet to start their league and East Coast Demerara who just began theirs are also out of contention.
The next Elite League of the GFF is set to kick off in January, next year. The GFF, through its Members-Financial Assistance Programme (M-FAP) has primarily funded all the second tier football leagues currently in progress and being run by the RAs.
