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Victorious Venus have reclaimed the coveted GulfWeekly/Citroen-sponsored Bahrain Ladies Football League title after taking a season off to regroup and develop into a new team of champions.
Despite losing their final game 2-1 against arch-rivals and former two-time champions Arsenal Ladies, their superior goal difference paid dividends.
The result halted Arsenal’s initial end-of-match celebrations and gave Venus a chance to rejoice. A vivacious Venus team held the cup high as they were crowned returning champions at an awards ceremony at the Soccer City grounds in Hamala on Wednesday night. They first won the title back in season 6.
Venus’s midfielder, captain and co-ordinator, Esra Ahmed Nuruddin, 27, was thrilled with the outcome. She said: “It feels really good to win the league again. We had lost a lot of players due to injury so we actually didn’t play last season as we didn’t have enough players to pool together.
“Instead, we used the time to recruit more girls and train even harder. We aim to win a third title next season and I think we can definitely do it.
“We won this season because of teamwork. People from different backgrounds and nationalities came together as a team, supported each other and lifted each other up. The coaches have been a great support too, helping us mentally and physically to be better and progress all the time.
“It was a great season. Everyone played amazingly well. There was fair play throughout despite it being a very competitive tournament. We look forward to everyone returning next season.”
It was double delight for the team as ace forward Zain Al Khalifa collected the acclaimed Player of the Season Award.
Al Khalifa, 23, who recently graduated with a degree in Global Studies from Boston Massachusetts, US, said: “It feels great to be named Player of the Season as I felt that my form had kind of dipped because I had not played regularly for four or five years. I guess I was being over anxious … to have won this, honestly, it is so reassuring.”
She started kicking the ball around with her brother and cousins from the age of eight and took a break during her college days only to return to the game she loves last year. This was her first tournament since rekindling her passion for the sport.
She added: “My teammates are really inspiring and it’s great to play with them. Some of the girls got injured during the season but still attended games to offer support from the side-lines. They have amazing team spirit, which is what brought us here.”
The Arsenal Ladies are runners-up in the league and are just as determined to win it for a third time too. The Arsenal U21s finished in third. The new season will kick off in mid-September and Deena Rahman, competition organiser, hopes it will feature a similar format.
She said: “I think this season was probably the most exciting because the title actually came down to the last game. It’s good that Arsenal Ladies won it last season and this season Venus came back and beat them. Now there is real competition going on.
“As for next season, we would like to keep the format similar but it all depends on how many teams want to join up. The Junior Gunners might step out this upcoming season to concentrate more on training and they will play a few more friendlies. The Eastern Flames from Saudi Arabia may be coming back into the fold so it can be anyone’s game next season.”
* To sign up and for more league information, email deena@arsenalschoolbahrain.com or visit www.arsenalschoolbahrain.com
