K&S gives Wales Community Centre first double-header
Guyana Chronicle
December 21, 2003
THE Kashif & Shanghai Organisation will again make history when the Christmas Football Festival moves to the Wales Community Centre ground, today, to give the community its first major football event there.
In the first match of the double header from 17:00 hrs, the 1995 champions Beacon will meet newcomers Silver Shattas, then Uitvlugt All Stars come up against a Kashif & Shanghai All Stars team, also, a first.
Kashif & Shanghai introduced big time football to the Blairmont Community Centre ground, which has now become a popular venue for not only local matches, but international encounters, attracting full houses.
Beacon won the championship in 1995, when for the first time, two city teams met in the final, with Thomas United ending as the losing finalists.
Since that feat, Beacon have not reached the final, and now have a chance to advance to the next round, coming up against the newly formed mining town club Silver Shattas.
Both teams will field young players -- Beacon having, over the years, produced some of the country top players who moved on to other clubs, like Anthony Abrams and Courtney McCurdy, strikers of repute and Leslie Holligan who now play with Camptown.
Silver Shattas arose as a breakaway club, with several former junior and senior national players like Bobbington King and Ravin Choo. They are untested as a team at this level but produced enough ripples in the Linden arena to be named first standby team for this year’s championship. They entered the competition when Notre Dame of Barbados pulled out of the tournament.
The Uitvlugt All Stars are really a West Demerara combined side, the sub-association opting to enter as one. Uitvlugt/Warriors were originally invited to play.
Opponents Kashif & Shanghai All Stars arose from a complex situation, as Western Tigers have been barred by the Georgetown Football League and the Guyana Football Federation from participating. However, the players are still allowed to don jerseys, if they so desire but not under the name of Western Tigers.
In fact, the two bodies even named replacement for the Tigers, although the organisers insist that participation is by invitation and Western Tigers were the invited team.
The Tigers have been in the championship since 1994 after winning the inaugural Carib League Cup, the first-ever National league championship. And last year, they reached the final, with a youth line-up only bowing to Fruta Conquerors, which produced enough credit for them to be chosen as replacement for Deacons Farm of Barbados.
In fact, the GFF even invited the club to participate in the recent inaugural Futsal tournament staged by the GFF.
After the innuendos by the GFL and GFF, the organisers were forced to find a replacement team, thus they came up with the Kashif & Shanghai All Stars. That should give room for a wide selection of players, perhaps one nearing the composition of a national team.
If that becomes the case, then this team might very well become the champions of this 14th championship. (Isaiah Chappelle)