TO USHER in the return of club football in Guyana, the local custodians of the ‘beautiful game’ announced their plans to have their respective Member Associations kick off a series of leagues on May 15.

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) affiliated associations, along with the GFF Women’s Development League (May 12), The Blue Water U15 Girls Developmental League and NAMILCO U17 Boys League (May 21) are expected to play their part in preparation for the 2022/2023 in September.

Wayne Forde, president of the GFF, said their Competition Team has been working closely with the Regional Association to support the planning and preparation for a Senior Male League.

He added that at the moment there are more than 115 clubs registered, with the Rupununi Football Association leading with 26 clubs and the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) coming in second with 16 clubs.
In alignment with the GFF Club Charter programme, all clubs across the GFF’s nine Regional Associations are being deemed ‘Category Three Clubs’, except the 10 Elite League Clubs.

“Once these Regional Association Clubs complete the registration process, they receive four size-5 balls, 25 cones and 12 bibs. I am pleased to announce that more than 90% of the participating clubs have completed their registration,” Forde said.

According to Forde, the GFF’s “aim is to create history by having all 9 Regional Association Leagues kick off simultaneously on May 15. This will give more than 2 500 young men an opportunity to showcase the talent they were blessed with and to present themselves to the Golden Jaguars Scouting Team.”

He added, “In August we will be playing the GFF Champions Cup, where the respective Regional Association League Champions and the first runners-up will be competing in a straight knockout tournament to be crowned the National Champions.”

Meanwhile, the GFF president assured that this season will be of no consequence to the promotion or relegation of clubs and is mainly to aid the preparation and capacity-building efforts that his Federation is undertaking at the Regional Association for the smooth rollout of the 2023 Season.

The GFF Elite League, which has not been played since 2019, will make a return, as well as a more structured Regional Association Male and Female competition programme.
In this short season, Forde revealed, the Elite League Clubs will compete within their original Regional Associations, where he believes everyone will enjoy the much-needed game time.