THE Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground is among Guyana’s most storied venues and today, it will once again embrace another historic moment in sports, more so in the sport of football, when Golden Jaguars face Martinique in an International Friendly.
It will be the French department’s first visit to Guyana and their second meeting with the Golden Jaguars. In 2012, Martinique hosted Guyana and played to a 2-2 draw.
For Linden, it will be a return of international football since May 19, 2011, when Guyana defeated Barbados 1-0.
Forde pointed out during a press conference yesterday, “We’re not going to see the finest venue that’s available to us in Guyana, but what we will see is the spirit of the community coming together to make something for one of the most prized possession of this country, which is the Golden Jaguars football team.”
Many questioned the move by the GFF to play the game at the MSC ground, citing the facilities nearing deplorable state, poor surface and inadequate lighting. But, Forde told reporters that the venue has made a complete 360 turn and is now more than ready for the momentous game between Guyana and Martinique.
“The Linden community has respondied in the most heartwarming way, with regard to the preparation and promotion of the game and the GFF is very encouraged,” Forde said.
“The GFF will do everything in its power to bring back prominent football to the Linden community. It is part of our overall strategy to spread the reach of the sport and even though circumstances do present some challenges, we must understand that you triumph when you take on these challenges, rather than doing what’s easy; defaulting to the next best thing and that’s not what we’re about.” Forde also highlighted.
Forde challenged the Linden populace, stating, “If we could have an atmosphere, similar to the one that we’re so accustomed to when we watch the Barclay’s Premier League, at least two of the upcoming international friendlies will go to that Linden community.”
It is of the GFF boss’s opinion that Linden presents the Federation with “the best financial opportunity in bringing off such a game; the cost for the venue is low, the logistics are low, marketing the game is very low because you’re talking about a small community with a decent population, so if you could get less than a third of that population in that venue, it’s a big win for us.”
“We have seen evidence of decline of attendance for the other games in Georgetown and some of the other venues and even though playing the game of football is our main priority, we have to do this in a very economical way. We can’t continue to incur over $3M taking a game to a venue and can’t at least recover that cost,” Forde said.
The GFF president said that rebuilding and rebranding the Golden Jaguars is their immediate priority and as such, a promise was made to play on every FIFA date for this year.
The Guyana-Martinique encounter will kick off at 20:00hrs and tickets cost $1500.