During the twilight years of his illustrious 21-years of entertaining and dazzling the world, a yet-to-be equaled rivalry in Guyana’s football was being established between two clubs whose names were inspired by perhaps the greatest footballer – Edson Arantes do Nascimento.

King Pele, as he was more popularly known, became the face of Global football while representing Santos FC of Brazil (1956 – 1974) and Brazil (1957 -1971), winning a record Three World Cups and two Inter-continental Club titles.

In April of 1964, Santos FC was birthed here in Guyana, coming out of the loins of the Albouystown Y.M.C.A. The Pele FC was created out of players mainly from Santos, and thus began the memorable South Georgetown Ballweavers contests.

On New Year’s day, past players and friends of the two rivals met in a special game to celebrate the life of Pele, who passed away on December 29th, 2022. The early morning game staged on the artificial turf at the Guyana Football Federation’s(GFF) National Training Centre, Providence was a collaborative effort of the Grand Masters over 60’s football fraternity and the head of the GFF, Wayne Forde.

Forde, who was one of the specially invited over 50’s, donned the number 10 for the all-white Santos line-up that also included former nationals Leonard Williams and Anthony Stanton as well as former Santos players, Frank Parris and Lloyd Smith.

The Pele team was spearheaded by former club Captain and National Junior and Senior player, Vibert ‘Dordee’ Butts. Ex-national players, who also appeared for Pele were Herbert Pellew, Wayne Peters and Chris Barnwell. Ras Kemis and Ras Zebby travelled from Linden to also be part of the Yellow and Blue outfit.

The one-hour game which was competitive and friendly throughout resulted in a 2-2 draw. Parris and Stanton netted for Santos while Barnwell scored both for Pele.

It was a fitting end to a game in honour of the king, Pele. RIP.