Wallidan Into Second Tier of Gambian Football

The most successful local team that clinched over 32 league trophies were beaten 1-0 in their make-or-break game against Young Africans last Sunday.

FodayBah’s charges lost to their Banjul neighbours, Young African, a relative new club, for the second time at the KG5 Mini-Stadium, dashing their hope of staying in the top league.

They joined new comers, Serekunda United, in the second tier, with one game to go.

Since inception in 1969, Wallidan, under the administration of the current president of The Gambia Football Association Normalization Committee, Alhaji Ousman Basi Conateh, won 15 first division championships and 16 domestic cup titles with their last league success coming in 2008, in which they won a double.

But since then the experienced Banjul based football club who have also participated six times in the African champions league, three at the African Cup of Champions Clubs, once at the 2004 CAF Confederation’s Cup and eight further appearances at the CAF Cup Winners’ Cup, were dormant as they failed to be among the top four for four consecutive seasons.

The club’s success do not only lay on winning trophies, but they have produced one of the best players that have passed through the ranks of the senior team, among the players who passed through the Blues are veterans, Biri-Biri, Jatto Ceesay, Captain Baboucarr Laos Sowe. 

The current Scorpions setup also have many players that came through Wallidan -like Ousman Jallow, Mustapha Toubabo Jarju, Momodou Ceesay, Ebrima Sohna, and Yankuba Mal Ceesay amongst others.

Season Performances

The team under the charges of Foday Bah encountered their worst performance even in the GFA league winning only five matches out of twenty and losing thirteen times in the process in which they scored thirteen goals, while conceding an unbelievable twenty seven goals.