Premium football

Georgetown football fans are in for a treat when the inaugural Banks Premium Beer 16-team knockout tournament gets cracking with a feature double header card at Tucville ground in La Penitence this evening.

The tournament, sponsored by local brewery giants Banks DIH Ltd., will bring together the top sixteen teams in Georgetown battling for a top prize of $250,000 in the first major tournament for 2008, and it will bring the curtains down on the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) 2007 season.

Fruta Conquerors will battle with Northern Rangers in this evening’s opening match billed to start at 18:00 h to be followed by Santos opposing Black Pearl at 20:00 h.

Some of the first division teams will be looking to make their mark against the more established premier teams in the knockout competition that should be filled with excitement and intrigue.

President of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) Troy Mendonca, told Stabroek Sport that all systems were in place for the start of the tournament and the GFA had provided for patrons, players, officials and members of the media while developmental work continued at the venue.

“Developmental work has started at the facility and there will be temporary arrangements to make spectators, players and officials comfortable during the eight-day tournament,” he disclosed.

Mendonca said that there would be temporary dressing rooms for the participating teams and referees while tents provided by the sponsors would be erected for officials and the media.

He said that there would also be three portable wash rooms available at the venue.

“The ground is already cut and roll and we are ready to go,” Mendonca said.

Sales Director of Banks DIH Ltd., Carlton Joao, has been invited to meet the teams and kick off the ball to start the tournament.

Two more matches will be played on Sunday with Pele squaring off with University of Guyana (UG) at 18:00 h, while the feature encounter will bring together Western Tigers and Thomas United at 20:00 h.

The tournament will consist of seven premier teams and nine division one clubs divided into two groups and all the matches will be played at the Tucville ground.

The 2007 GT&T Cell Link Premier league champions and Kashif and Shanghai winners Alpha United, the Guyana Defence Force, winners of the 2007 Namilco Invitational tournament both are lined up in Group A along side Beacons, Uprising, Flamingo, Georgetown Football Club, Houston Stars and Sunburst Camptown.

Teams in Group B are Western Tigers, Thomas United, University of Guyana (UG), Pele, Santos, Black Pearl, Fruta Conquerors and Northern Rangers.

Apart from the top prize of $250,000 the runners-up will secure $125,000, the third- placed side will take home $75,000 while fourth-placed will receive $50,000.

The tournament was originally scheduled to start last Friday but was rescheduled due to inclement weather that left the Tucville ground in a soggy state.

The third place playoff and final will take place on February 17.