Premiership set to thrill

NAMIBIAN premiership football is expected to thrill, enliven, amaze and most likely disappoint some, when a brand new season returns to the local sporting scene tonight.

The opening match of the 2009/10 Namibia Premier League (NPL) season sees traditional rivals Tigers and Orlando Pirates clashing at the Sam Nujoma Stadium tonight. Kick-off is at 20h00.There will be five more encounters countrywide tomorrow, with four starting at the same time, with the exception of the match between Black Africa and Civics, which is booked for the Sam Nujoma Stadium at 19h00.All the other matches will start at 16h00, a new official time that was set by the league administrators instead of the previous 15h00 kick-off.The premiership will be led by new chairman Johnny Doëseb, who has emphasised that this season will be a stepping-stone in getting Namibian football to a professional level.MORE CASH NPL sponsor MTC this year put aside N$1,5 million as prize money for the teams and for the first time in the history of the league all 12 premiership teams will get a portion of that amount.That means the two sides that will be relegated at the end of this season will go down with something in the bank, while the top three sides will be richer than the ones who were in those spots last season.African Stars won the championship last season and pocketed N$400 000, while Civics who ended as runners-up got N$120 000 and Black Africa N$100 000 in third.In fact, all top six finishers in the league were rewarded for their efforts in trying to clinch the league title.This year the winning team goes home with N$600 000, while the runners-up will rake in N$400 000 and the third placed-team in line for N$200 000.But, for now, the figures will be set aside and the teams will aim at starting off on a high note and maintaining a consistent form in what could turn out to be the toughest season for most of them.FAVOURITES The favourites for this season are undoubtedly defending champions African Stars who, despite a relatively young side, managed to keep a great momentum throughout their campaign and in the first round went for 12 matches unbeaten.The side has retained most of their key players who did duty last season and with coach Bobby Samaria still in charge, they will be in the thick of things and among the top three at the end of this season.Eleven Arrows are the second best side and have acquired the services of former Brave Warriors assistant coach Ronnie Kanalelo and a string of hot new signings.These include striker Edward Asino, midfielders Victor Helu and Bernadine Mbilizi , while some of the key members such as Virgil Vries, Chris Katjiukua, Bobby Kaapama, Veino Namolo, Donovan Swartz and the Katupose twins (Muna and Tara) still forming the basis of the side.Arrows appeared destined for greater things at the start of last season but fizzled out later on. This time, they need to keep their often precarious away record intact, while Kanalelo has all the pressure to produce the miracle of landing the first ever title for their sole owner Johnny Doëseb.Black Africa and Civics are on equal footing as favourites and both have relatively young players in their camps. BA surged towards the top of the table after Ali Akan took over at the start of the second round to end the third in the league, while Ricardo Mannetti at Civics did a sterling job of hanging in there despite a string of resignations and still, making it into a remarkable second finish in the end. STRUGGLERSOrlando Pirates, Ramblers, Tigers and Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW), can count themselves to be dwelling in mid-table this season once again because of their poor showing last season. They never ceased to surprise with their unpredictable results, while the performance from some top players was awesome in some instances and terribly disappointed at some stages. Pirates lost their title to Stars, Tigers avoided relegation by the grace of other teams, SKW failed to maintain a consistent run after a riveting first round display, while Ramblers just never got it right until the end.The destiny of these teams rests in the tactical and technical abilities of their coaches and the players have the responsibility to lift themselves up and be considered as premiership material.Oshakati City, Hotspurs and newcomers Blue Waters and United Stars will hold the fort in the second stanza of the season, if they fail to spring surprise wins here and there.Oshakati City showed glimpses of brilliance in their pre-season matches in Windhoek recently, while Hotspurs, despite lifting themselves from the relegation zone after the arrival of coach Willem Kapukare in the second round, need to do more soul-searching to keep their place in the league.Blue Waters coach Lucky Shipanga has a young side and his progress and consistency in the league will be determined by wins closer to his home-base in Swakopmund, while United Stars have an equally daunting task to stick out their heads and be counted in this competitive league. See full fixtures on this page. corry@namibian.com.na