By S. Siapha Mulbah
Former Bea Mountain Football Club head coach, Robert Lartey, has officially assumed the duties of the manager and head coach of National Second Division League outfit, Gardnerville Football Club, after being announced by the club leadership in the last 72 hours.
Coach Lartey, alias Pela, resigned from the nation’s topflight when he terminated all services with the boys of Kinjor on January 28, 2024, following reported accounts that there was not much support given to him by the backroom staff of the club while serving them in the position of their head coach.
On February 19, 2024, Coach Pela was unveiled by the second division club as a replacement to its former coach, Mutarr Fofana, in a short-term agreement with a mandate to win the LFA Second Division championship.
During the unveiling ceremony, the CAF License A and Coaching Instructor expressed overwhelming joy in joining the team he described as one of Liberia’s best and most organized football clubs, with a promise to bring back the glorious days of Gardnerville FC.
The following day, Robert Lartey commenced work with his new employer, at the team’s regular training ground at Tusa Field. His introduction to the club comes days after the club lost two straight matches in a row, dropping to third place on the 16-team log.
He takes the club with 38 points after 20 league games, and will lead them in the remaining 10 fixtures to ensure that there is a club in the national first division league during the 2024-2025 league season. As one of the three table leaders at the second league, Gardnerville will face Mighty Enforcers, Junior Professionals, Discoveries Sports Academy, Samira, and Nimba United Football Clubs, in the first five matches for Coach Lartey.
In the final five matches of the league, Coach Lartey will prepare Gardnerville to face Jubilee, Philadelphia Lone Star, Wologisi, Black Man Warrior, and Sinoe National Port Authority, to determine his stance on achieving his mandate.
