Real de Banjul Football Club have decamped the twelve players who were camped at Kerr Real at the end of the five weeks timeline of the pilot program. It could be recalled that in over a month ago, the management together with the club’s technicians initiated to camp twelve young players for five weeks at its club house, Kerr Real, to trial a different approach to developing some young players. The initiative that acclaimed the praise and approval of football enthusiasts, went to be a worthy one after players from the camp showed signs of progress as Real de Banjul’s five out of their last six games, were scored by Baboucarr Touray (2), Alasana Badjie (2) and Abdurahman Badamosi (1), all from the camped group and coincidentally their very first goals of the campaign and they came after the fourth and fifth weeks of their camp. Club President William Abraham shared his satisfaction during the decamping of the successful camp on Monday at Kerr Real saying that: “I want to thank (club technical director) Pa Suwareh Faye and Coach Lamin Kijera who did a great job with the twelve players during the five weeks long camp. I want to thank the players for their patience and discipline that you’ve shown.” “I have never heard of any bad attitudes or wrongdoing from the camp, so it means we are achieving what we are slowly achieving what we want. We appreciate your patience, some of you are not having playing time, wait for your time. My level of education is not very high, I didn’t go to University or College. Bye Malleh Wadda was my commerce teacher and I was the best student in his class. Immediately I finished High School, I knew that a job was waiting for me because I was working since I was going to school. In this world you have to believe in yourself, I didn’t have to go the University to be the President of Real de Banjul, Pa Yusufa Samba who’s my vice president is much older than me but God gave me this seat.” Abraham added: “So, if you believe in yourselves, you believe that you’re the twelve players out of over a hundred players that the club has, you’re the luckiest twelve players to be in this camp. I am happy that you’re making good use of it because everything that we gave you here, we feel that it’s the best, for the first time something like this is happening in the country. This project we are doing here, I have put it on the table of the former President, Yahya Jammeh and that of Adama Barrow to build an academy facility in every region of the country. We have the best talent in Africa and I believe in them that’s why we are doing this. So, if you believe in yourself and this project you will go very far. Most of you playing in the first team have a lot of scouts…

Real de Banjul head Coach Ebrima Jatta has said that competing for trophies is a tradition in the club and believes his team has a strong chance to defend its league title. The Champions’ bright start saw them leading the GFF Division One League table, with the team dropping to second after an accumulation of bad results saw Fortune FC replace them at the top before Ebrima Jatta and his charges bounced back to reclaim the top spot after their resounding 4-0 victory over Falcons FC at the Live Your Dream Sports Academy complex with Fortune dropping points against the Gambia Armed Forces and TMT FC. “Our team is back on top again and it seems we have a strong chance of defending our title. It is clear that Real de Banjul has a tradition of competing at the top and aiming for the number one spot,” Jatta said. Ebrima Jatta says the early stages may have determined who the title contenders are as the first round of the 2023/24 GFF Division One League draws to a conclusion. “The early stages of the season may have determined the title contenders and it seems like our team, Real de Banjul, is in a good position,” Jatta said. He added: “To assess the chances of our team, it would be important to consider various factors such as the team’s current form, the player’s fitness, squad depth and the competition from other teams in the league. The challenge now is we the coaching staff having the ability to adapt to different opponents in the league.” Jatta, fondly called ‘Giggs’, credits the good training the City Boys put in and quick adjustments to tactics to having a good start to their title defense season. “Real de Banjul have been successful in implementing a variety of tactical approaches leading to good performances. The combination of balancing defensive and high pressuring drills in training helps the team win games and seeing the team win games with clean sheets suggests a well rounded approach to the game. It’s a combination of the concentration and the understanding of the tactics by the players as well as their individual brilliance and skills.” “When a team is able to execute a range of tactics effectively, it often indicates that the players have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities within the team’s system or style of play.” ‘Giggs’ pointed out that he never doubted his side’s capabilities to shoulder pressure of having to bounce back against Falcons FC saying that: “This victory is a positive response to the previous setbacks reflecting the resilience and determination of the team. It is a testament to the dedication and efforts of both the coaching staff and players. This four-nil victory over Falcons demonstrates that the team has the ability to bounce back from adversity and perform at a high level when it matters most.” The City Boys will end the first round of the league with a visit to the Serrekunda East…

Real de Banjul can confirm the permanent transfer of striker Ousman Kujabi to Slovakian club FK Železiarne Podbrezová. The 18-year-old leaves Real de Banjul to sign a two-year contract with the Slovak First Football League club. He reunites with his Real de Banjul teammate, forward Alasana Yirajang, in Podbrezová. Kujabi will in the meantime be sent on loan to second-tier club FK Pohronie on loan until the end of the season for more first team minutes. Club President William Abraham expressed his delight at another player of the City Boys leaving the team to pen a professional contract. He said: “We’re happy that another player of ours is leaving to sign a professional contract abroad. Ousman Kujabi is a fine striker who scored very important goals for us since he joined us and I won’t be surprised seeing him continue the same in his new club.” Abraham added: “He signed for Podbrezová who are doing very well in the league and competing for a place in Europe. We understand he will be sent on loan to FK Pohronie which is a good club that will offer him playing time and slowly introduce him to the demands of professional football.” “Pohronie is a club where Alieu Fadera had success at and eventually moved to Belgium so with Ousman starting there to finish the season is a good thing and I believe he will deliver to expectations and then return to FK Železiarne Podbrezová,” Abraham concluded. Kujabi for his part thanked the club for availing him the opportunity to sign a professional contract and wished his teammates well. Everyone at Real de Banjul wishes Ousman Kujabi all the best of luck as he commences his professional football career in Slovakia with FK Železiarne Podbrezová.

Real de Banjul is delighted to announce the permanent transfer of forward Alasana Yirajang on a two-year contract to Slovakian top club FK Železiarne Podbrezová. The 19-year-old forward swaps the City Boys for Podbrezová where he will spend the next few years in his professional football career. The Kartong-born mesmerizing winger leaves Real de Banjul as the club’s top scorer, netting seven times in eleven outings this season. Club President William Abraham was elated in seeing one of the team’s brightest talents leaving the club for pastures news in a professional environment. “Alasana leaving us to sign a professional contract with FK Železiarne Podbrezová goes on to further reaffirm our club’s commitment in changing the lives of Gambian talents. The process for his transfer started for more than a year ago when he was loaned to the second division playing for Jam City FC,” Abraham said. “A lot of people won’t know but we had a club for him before where he was going to go on trial but was rejected with a visa, despite the disappointment, he put up a strong mentality and came back to Real de Banjul after his loan to consistently perform for us and become one of the best players in the league this season, a player like that deserves commending and I’m happy we could finally make his dream come true by transferring him to Podbrezová, which is a top club in a good league,” Abraham concluded by saying. Yirajang on his part thanked the club for the opportunity of turning professional and wished his current teammates all the best of luck. He said: “I want to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the entire Real de Banjul Executive, my coaches and teammates for all the help and support they gave me during my time at the club. I leave the club as a player but will continue to support it as a fan. I encourage my teammates to finish the job we started and I pray all of them also get their opportunities soon to sign professional contracts.” The general manager of Podbrezová, Miroslav Poliaček, explained the process his club took in securing the signature of Yirajang saying that: “We went to look at him and clearly decided that he is the player we want to acquire. It took half a year as we waited for everything to be resolved formally and luckily it was done.” Poliaček added that Yirajang is: “an offensive player who is characterized by great dynamism and I believe that he will again bring something to our game that will make our play more attractive. We definitely rely on that, as he is currently one of the best scorers in the Gambian league and I believe that he will be able to show his skills here as well!” Before his departure, Yirajang was last month voted as both the league’s Player of the Month and Real de Banjul fan player of the month. Everyone at Real de Banjul…