Sixteen of Guyana’s top Street football teams will vie for top honours when the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Street’ National Play-offs commence on Saturday in the mining town of Linden.
The teams are those that would have won in the respective zones such as Georgetown, East Bank/West Demerara, Linden, Bartica, Berbice and East Coast of Demerara.
(L-R) Banks DIH Outdoor Events Manager Mortimer Stewart, Communications Manager Troy Peters, Guinness Brand Manager Lee Baptiste, Colours Boutique representative Creana Damon and Referees Co-ordinator Wayne Griffith
Georgetown will be represented by Sparta Boss, who is also the reigning title holders and 2015 champions as well, inaugural winners Back Circle, who won the title in 2013, Tucville and Broad Street, while Dave and Celena’s All-Stars (champions of Linden), Swag Entertainment and Jermaine and Family Silver Bullets will represent the Mining Town.
The East Coast of Demerara representatives are Melanie-B (Champion), Plaisance-B and Buxton Diamond, while Showstoppers (Champion), Hustlers and Money Team are the West Demerara/East Bank Demerara ambassadors.
New Amsterdam (NA) Kings (Champion) and East Bank Gunners are the Berbice representatives, while Riverview (Champion) will be the sole entry from Bartica.
Speaking at the launch of the event on Thursday, Guinness Brand Manager Lee Baptiste revealed that the season has certainly lived up to the expectation of being the best thus far. Given that Caribbean play-off have ceased, Baptiste said that they will seek to spread the game in Guyana as opposed to bringing foreign teams due to the possible financial burden.
Present also at the ceremony was Banks DIH Outdoor Events Manager Mortimer Stewart, Communications Manager Troy Peters, Colours Boutique representative Creana Damon and Referees Co-ordinator Wayne Griffith who all wished the respective teams success and hoped for an exciting championship.
The fixtures for opening night will see NA Kings tackling Melanie-B at 20:00hrs and this encounter will be followed by the clash between Swag Entertainment and Buxton Diamond from 20:45hrs.
At 21:30hrs, East Bank Gunners square off against Dave and Celena’s All-Stars, while Tucville and Jermaine and Family Silver Bullets clash kicks off at 22:15hrs.
Following the completion of the four matches, the winners of game two and three battle from 23:00hrs, while the winners of game one and four clash at 23:45hrs.
The survivors automatically move into the semi-final round. The event resumes on July 14, at the Pouderoyen Tarmac.
Plaisance-B battles Broad Street at 20:00hrs, while Showstoppers square off against Riverview from 20:45hrs.
The third fixture will see the Money Team match strides with Sparta Boss at 21:30hrs, while Back Circle tackles Hustlers from 22:15hrs.
The winners of game one and four then collide for a semi-final place and so too the winner of the game two and three encounter.
The semi-finals and final will be played on July 15, at the Demerara Park, Thirst Park.
Winner of the tournament will receive $800,000 and the Championship trophy, while the second, third and fourth place finishers will pocket $400,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively along with trophies.
