THE Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Elite League will make a return for the second round on Sunday at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground with an interesting double-header.

League leaders and newcomers Den Amstel will collide with defending champions Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in the opening game from 17:30hrs then make way for the highly anticipated clash between the new-look Fruta Conquerors and Western Tigers.
Following the GFF’s Transfer Window, some teams made some major changes to their initial roster with Western Tigers and Fruta Conquerors going after the ‘big guns’ to boost their chances.

The Elite League will see a return of the star of their inaugural season, Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson, who was picked up by Fruta Conquerors while former Alpha United talisman Daniel Wilson will now suit up with Western Tigers.

Both players are familiar with each other, having played on a star-studded Alpha United team as well as on the country’s National senior team, the ‘Golden Jaguars’.
Conquerors finished behind champions Guyana Defence Force (GDF) last season, and had vowed to make the necessary changes needed to not only compete with the ‘Army’, but also to stake their claim as the best club in Guyana.

Richardson, touted as one of the most talented players of his generation, had taken the Elite League by storm in its inaugural season while playing for his foundation club Pele.

However, after Pele, along with Alpha United, Slingerz FC and the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) had pulled out of the Elite League in protest of the GFF’s expansion from eight to ten teams, calling the move “unconstitutional”, the club (Pele) found itself back at the ‘association’ level, playing under the Georgetown Football Association (GFA).

Fruta Conquerors, headed by Guyanese-born Canadian football star Alex Bunbury, had made several notable signings this season, also adding National player Anthony Benfield, and Golden Jaguars national ’keeper Akel Clarke to their line-up.

Richardson, 35, is the first Guyanese-born player to be signed and featured in the USA’s Major League Soccer (MLS), following his move to the Colorado Rapids in 2009.

The forward, who sits behind Nigel ‘Powers’ Codrington (18) as the country’s second highest goalscorer on the international stage, with 15, is well known for his ability to get goals and at Fruta Conquerors it will be expected of him to live up to his billing, even though he’s one step off the player he used to be.