Kashif Muhammad and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major saw that their years of work had now really blossomed into a fully established and accepted event, while the Fruta Conquerors and Western Tigers defied critics by reaching the top.

Also, the large turnout for the final on New Year’s Day at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground signalled the maturity of football fans, particularly in Linden, as they came out in numbers despite two city teams clashed for the coveted title, with the Fruta boys finally getting their hands on the winners’ trophies.

The crowd swelled beyond the capacity of the stands with people standing closely together between the stands and the fence. The organisers said it was a smaller attendance than last year’s for the Linden/Georgetown final between Netrockers and Swiss House Victoria Kings, the eventual winners.

Some persons attending last year’s final said the crowd at the 13th final was as big or even bigger, but whatever the real size, the turnout was huge, perhaps over 10 000.

That attendance probably cemented the Kashif & Shanghai Organisation’s reputation as being the organisers who have staged the country’s biggest sport event, involving just local sportsmen.

Although there were loopholes, like the late whistles to kick off play, generally, excellence permeated the championships.

And judging from the last crowd, it is clear that people will now turn out to see the matches, regardless of which teams are on the field, because they now have the confidence of seeing top quality play, once it is a Kashif & Shanghai event.

One of the biggest achievements of this tournament was introducing the event to Berbice. And the response was stupefying. It was the best leg of the series. Despite the big crowd, everyone remained behind the low fence. And both matches were exciting. A bigger turnout is already being anticipated for the next Christmas Day leg there.

Most matches were keenly contested, some so close that the win could have gone to any team. And of course there were the upsets. Stewartville shocked Linden when they knocked out three-time champions Topp XX. They had set the stage by first disposing of Thomas United.

The quality of competition is one positive result from the four-year association with the Guyana Football Federation, whereby clubs must put themselves in a position to attract invitation to participate.

However, two areas have not matured over the years - that of refereeing and announcing.

One referee in particular, issued eleven cards, including two red, which probably showed he had poor control. The said referee had another poor performance at the GFC ground, Bourda. Yet he was carrying the whistle at Blairmont, while a referee with a FIFA badge was on the sidelines as a fourth official. In fact it was that FIFA referee’s last duty in the tournament, having carried the whistle just twice, although there are only three male referees with FIFA badges, while a woman wears the other.

Certainly something was amiss in appointing officiating personnel for matches. Was it that there was a small core of referees and assistant referees who were favoured to get in on the incentives the tournament offered, thus they got appointments regardless of performance? Whatever the reason, the resulting performance could tarnish the tournament.

The use, or more appropriately the misuse, of the public address system has been a bugbear for years, and has not improved. The announcers annoy more than they inform. Imagine a call was announced for a person to go and collect a meal or that a person must report here or there. Those calls are in house matters and should not be for the attending public.

Announcers need to be trained professionals. They should recognise redundancy, like in the credits to sponsors - Banks DIH Limited, Ministry of Sports, Government of Guyana, Western Union Money Transfer, etc. Surely, one easily spots the redundancy in the example. They must also do the announcing at intervals and not continually and should not talk during the playing of the FIFA anthem. An anthem is an anthem.

There are some other small details that need to be rectified. In staging any event, there would be a core of people who all workers need to recognise on sight so that they are not hassled unnecessarily.

One sensed the Kashif & Shanghai Organisation has established their reputation when a past critic agreed to be on the work team. He turned up in suit to do his duties, albeit inefficiently, denying the media the usual courtesies extended in the past tournaments.

The coverage given by the media, also, indicated that the Kashif & Shanghai Christmas Football Festival is on the national calendar of events and is worth attention. That speaks volumes since many do not have bona fide sport sections. Gone are the days when just the two main dailies presented the tournament to the public. But those new practitioners have to learn that setting up equipment, especially for television, has to be done several hours before the start of matches, and the organisers must insist that it is done.