An Introduction
Chairman: Ba Omar Jatta
Team Secretary: David M. Gibba
Having moved about 1m from teh beautiful and cultural village of Daranka, Sutton United (Gambia) FC is now relocated in Lamin Village in Kombo North District just in the outskirts of the capital city Banjul and a major tourist destination. It boasts to be home of Lamin Lodge (a must stop lodge for tourist who enjoy biodiversity and also home to the Abuko Nature Reserve.
The club plays in the country’s national third division league locally known as “Nawettan” (This word is derived from the Wolof tongue, one of several local languages, and means seasonal tournament) It is the third highest competition in the country’s national football rankings from which all league champions are entered from the different Local Governing Bodies (LGB) to feature in the play-offs championship where only three teams out of the possible 15 – 20 go through to the Third Division Triangular Tournament and the two best teams from this three gain promotion to the National Second Division League. The structure of football in
Gambia
is as follows:
GAMBIA
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
G.F.A 1st Division F.A Cup
G.F.A 2nd Division
3rd DIVISION TRIANGULAR TOURNAMENT
NAWETTAN LEAGUE
*NOORAN
Unlike English clubs, most teams in
Gambia
do not have regular colours. Instead they play in whatever is the cheapest strip available when they need to buy new kit and they change kits every two years on average. For the 2008/9 season, Sutton United (
Gambia
) FC has been supplied with a kit in the famous amber and chocolate of Sutton United.
Sutton United (
Gambia
) only has a training ground and not a stadium, not even the richest club in the country has a stadium. Scheduled matches are played in parks and on public community pitches. None of the clubs in
Gambia
has its own web-site.
Between 300 and 700 regularly go to watch the club’s matches, but attendances are never counted. The players are not paid but, on the contrary, they help in fundraising to cover for some of the expenses of the club. The club chairman is normally the one dipping into his pocket in meeting nearly half of the major club expenses. Players see it as a privilege to play for the club; hence it is a strong community club.
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