Elite League 2025: “This is the one that will separate us from the rest” – Coach Bill Wilson

…Story and Photos by Jemima Holmes

As the seventh edition of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Elite League fast approaches, preparation is intensifying all across the coastland among the country’s top 10 football teams.
At the apex are the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Football Club, who lifted the championship trophy in 2023 and 2024.

As such, the thought of a historic three-peat is already lingering in the thoughts of the soldiers’ camp, with Coach Joseph “Bill” Wilson revealing that their preparation has been good thus far.
Wilson exclusively told Guyana Times Sport, “Our preparation, as usual, has been going good so far. The players are working hard as usual, fully focused and we’re at the midpoint of our pre-season training. On a scale of 1 to 10 I think we’re about 6. “

He went on to share about his focus areas in their preparation, “There’s so many things you have to continuously work on in football, we know finishing is one, like in the basketball game, you always work on finishing. Obviously, our ball possession, we have to improve on that; we also have to work on our fitness levels to bring it up to the levels we normally play and work at to give the optimum performance of the player. Those are just some of the basic things. I think my team always have the right mental attitude, we’re always committed and, in most cases, we’re disciplined.”

In the recently-closed transfer window, GDF FC were likely the only team in the Elite League’s top three of last season that did not see much movement into the club.
Simultaneously, the club lost the services of national players Kelsey Benjamin and Ryan Hackett. Highlighting that GDF were unbothered by the loss, Wilson noted that it was all a part of the game.
“You probably hit it on the head there, there’s not much more that I could say,” Wilson said with a chuckle about losing the national team duo.
He divulged, “The word key doesn’t exist in terms of players, the word key exists in terms of attitude, performance and motivation. We’re always fully focused and motivated and the same principles we’ll use going forward into this league. Yes, we could’ve had more players joining the set-up and we have a couple indeed, but that’s football. Players go, players come, organisations exist forever, coaches go, coaches come also.”
“So, we’re not too perturbed, we’re not too bothered missing those two players. We will continue to do our work.”

Money moves and GDF’s credit card
On the same topic of transfers, the GDF Gaffer welcomed the ‘shopping’ done by their rival clubs, opining that fiercer competition will only force better performances from his troops.
The Head Coach said with a laugh, “I’m happy that they have the credit card. GDF don’t have the Visa and the Mastercard to go about doing those kinds of things, but I’m happy that they are making efforts, which is expected. I would’ve been disappointed to know that they haven’t done something to try to stop the GDF’s dominance. Like the saying goes, the fiercer the competition, the better our players will perform. And we’re just looking forward to the starting of the league, we’re raring to go, because I know there’s all the talk around that they have this player, that player, but at the end of the day, this is the Guyana Defence Force.
“There’s no other team that is capable and has the tools, have the right, the mandate to represent football in Guyana than the Guyana Defence Force, the words speak for themselves. So, we are always prepared. Not only to prepare against Venezuela or our neighbours, to prepare also against the Jamaicans and the Trinidadians,” Wilson added.
With a hat-trick of Elite League Championships in sight, Wilson described the goal as a motivating factor for himself and team.
The Head Coach revealed, “That’s part of the motivation, that’s the key part of the motivation, the most important part. To deliver three times and create history in Guyana’s football; we’ve created many histories last year, the year before, but this one is the key one. This is the one that will separate us, definitely from the rest. This is the one that is supposed to ease all the talk locally, so, that is the motivating factor for us.”
The Elite League is set to kick off on Sunday, March 9, 2025.