WINDHOEK – North-West First Division Stream (NWFDS) outfit Life Fighters will return to elite football next season after an absence of more than 10 years.
With only two games left to play in the NWFDS, their 10-point lead has already qualified them for the 2016/17 Namibia Premier League (NPL).
Life Fighters have 44 points from 20 games, followed by Touch and Go with 34 points. Young Stars are third but level on 33 points with KK Palace who are fourth on the log.
The Otjiwarongo-based team was relegated to the First Division during the 2004/05 NPL.
On Sunday, Life Fighters beat Tropical Heat from Grootfontein 2-0 at the Mokati Stadium.
Speaking to Nampa on Sunday, Anton Kake, the chairperson of the football club, said this is the start of hard work.
“At the start of the second leg in January we already knew we would be promoted to the NPL, because our competitors lost most of their games, and we had the points difference by then.
“Our hard work has started now, because we have to start looking for sponsors and set a vision for the team when we join the Premier League,” he said.
Kake is excited that football will be alive again in Otjiwarongo.
“I think we will need four to six players but it’s still too early for that. What excites me currently is that we are in the Premier League come next season and Life Fighters have a huge fan base. I can say we are in the top-five most supported clubs in the country.
“Mighty Gunners will now be happy to have NPL opponents from the same town, because we will pull crowds to the stadium and they will also benefit with the gate takings,” he stated.
Life Fighters ended as runner-ups in the 1999 NPL season. – Nampa
