by Carlena Knight
After nearly a three-year hiatus, the Antigua Premier League (APL) will kick off this weekend.
In a release earlier this month, the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) announced that the national football leagues are slated to kick off later this month.
The top league will consist of 16 teams this year, after a decision in October 2020 to promote six teams as part of what was labelled restructuring efforts after the 2019/20 competition was stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Empire FC, Sap FC, FC Aston Villa, Tryum FC, Blue Jays FC and Willikies FC were all promoted from the First Division to the Premier Division, and will join Greenbay Hoppers, Parham, Five Islands, Ottos Rangers, Swetes, Liberta Blackhawks, Old Road, Bullets, All Saints United, and Grenades.
The venue and what format for the top flight was not known at the time of the release but over the weekend a schedule was released to the media indicating that the ABFA Technical Facility will be used.
It will kick off on November 26 starting at 4pm with SAP FC battling the Blue Jays. At 6pm, All Saints United will face Blackhawks, while at 8pm Willikies FC will battle Grenades FC.
Matches will run all the way until mid-March 2023.
There is still no word on when the other divisions will begin despite a previous announcement that they were slated to kick off on November 21 and 22.