By Akeem Greene

akeem@newsroom.stagingsites.cc

A dream for Guyana’s football landscape has entered its initial phase of realisation with the commencement of construction of the first Football Stadium, west of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown.

The vision of the Wayne Forde-led Guyana Football Federation (GFF) is to develop the 7.3 acres of land into a 12-14,000 capacity stadium, have mini-pitches for community and grassroot activities and relocate some of its administration offices from the current secretariat in Section ‘K’ Campbellville, Georgetown.

On Monday, Project Director for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), Howard McIntosh, along with the GFF’s top brass visited the site where work has commenced by McGregor’s Real Estate Development Inc.

The first phase will entail the levelling of the land and removal of debris and then, half of the land will be sand-filled and compressed to 12 inches.

Goals will be mounted on the sand-filled area to allow for community football, while the other engineering works will continue.

The first phase is expected to be completed in a month’s time.

Forde envisioned that the Georgetown Football Association would use the facility for some of its youth tournaments given the issues with grounds.

The cost for the first phase is between G$18M and G$25M and it is funded exclusively by CONCACAF through the One CONCACAF Development Fund.

It is a financial assistance programme set up to help member associations boost their development portfolios.

“We know once we put eight pairs of nets out here what will happen. We want to see young talents, boys and girls, doing what they love to do best, which is to play football,” Forde told the gathering.

Achieving the bigger goal

Currently, there is no cost attached to the overall project, but Forde indicated they will soon secure a partnership with an international entity for the engineering and design of the project, and he will engage other partners to secure funds to complete the transformational project.

Commenting further on the stadium, the GFF head envisioned that if all goes according to plan, the entire facility could be ready to host international football in four years, with “an opening game against Brazil.”

“It would be a watershed moment for the sport and we can only imagine the level of development that we will be able to drive if we control a technical centre and a national stadium where we can have programmes run 24/7, 365 days a year,” the GFF Head expressed on the potential impact.

As the GFF “actively pursues a genuine Professional League project in Guyana” the stadium will be “home of the Pro-League.”

He added that the Elite League, which has not been played since May 2019 for numerous reasons, would restart in May.

The commencement of work at Homestretch Avenue is an “indication that those [finishing] phases are well underway” at the GFF National Training Facility at Providence.

Collaborations

Meanwhile, McInstosh expressed delight with the progress of football in Guyana, noting that collaborations, especially with the government are vital.

He further highlighted that the conversation upon visiting Guyana has moved from the turmoil of football politics and normalisation committees to facilities and football development.

The hope of McKintosh, should he return in September, is that he could see football on the new field.

“Yes, we want to do more but we will take it slow and steady,” the CONCACAF Project Director expressed in response to whether there would be more funding for similar projects for Guyana’s hinterland locations.

In February 2019, the GFF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government, paving the way for the construction of artificial surfaces.