COASTAL side Blue Boys Football Club were promoted to the Namibia Premier League (NPL) after defeating Fedics United 3-0 in their Southern Stream First Division playoff final.
After decades of languishing in the lower divisions and trying to get into the top domestic football league in the country, the Swakopmund-based club eventually clinched the elusive promotion when they overturned a first-leg loss to emerge victorious over Fedics United of Keetmanshoop.Trailing 3-1 after the controversial first leg in Keetmanshoop, the Mondesa outfit knew that they needed to win the match to stand any chance of progressing to the premier division, and buoyed by an ‘unexpected’ large following on the day, the boys delivered to send the town into wild celebrations.’The whole community came together. The turnout was beyond expectation,’ said Marvin Sakeus, the club’s chairman.’We played very positively and managed to score the goals we needed to win promotion. We hit the crossbar and the upright twice in the first five minutes.’Sakeus said his side showed great resilience throughout their campaign and are relishing the prospect of mixing it with the big boys on a weekly basis come the 2010/11 season kick-off. Blue Boys finished the season as the leading scorers and having leaked the least amount of goals as well.’Collectively we have a good team. The midfielders especially are very hardworking and this has been one of the reasons for our success. ‘I think the team will do very well in the premier league. We will look at adding some new players to strengthen the team.’Apart from failing to gain promotion to the premier league on numerous occasions since its inception in 1958, the club has also experienced heartbreak in domestic cup competitions, notably the 1995 Metropolitan Cup final loss to Black Africa. The side were also knocked out in the semi-finals of the NFA Cup the following year by Chief Santos, with further cup semis agony in the Hansa Pilsener Cup of 2008. ‘Mae Dae Chiefs and Ramblers snatched promotion from us in 1995 and 1999,’ said Sakeus of his team’s fortunes over the years. ‘The secret to our success this time around is that we put up structures that have relieved the players and helped them focus on playing football.’We have a new management in place. The sponsorship that we received and the community getting behind the team boosted the team.’The other scheduled play-off in the Southern Stream was called off for the second weekend running. Following more administrative bungling, the two sides, Tura Magic and Friends FC, have opted to split the money for the third and fourth place instead.sheefeni@namibian.com.na
