Maldivian football for 3 decades from early 1970s was dominated by two teams. Victory SC vs New Radiant Sports Club. The Reds Vs the Blues. Galolhu Vs Henveyru. A healthy sporting rivalry developed during this period between the two giants of then Maldivian football. Matches between the two sides brought the city of Male to a standstill. It used to be the topic of the town and media for days. Supporters were passionate and die hard. The derbies were hard fought and well competed. Wins hugely celebrated with bragging rights and a loss had a huge impact to the distract the teams belongs to.

In recent times with the misfortune of both the leading clubs, and with emergence of new teams the rivalry has died down. The supporters disappeared and the passion dried out, the intensity and the importance lost.

But the season of the 2017 promises a new beginning. Both the teams have rebuild and reassembled strong squads with New Radiant under new and promising management after a disappointing season. Both the teams are aiming to be the league Champions.

While it might be too early to hope that the passion and hype it created in the early 70s and 80s will be back in the coming fixture, the signs so far for the 2017 football season has been promising. The supports are slowly coming back to the stadium. The football played is good, the league looks competitive and too close to call.

It’s going to be the first match of the season for New Radiant SC. The first chance for the supports and soccer pundits to judge the standard of the new team. New Radiant has already beaten Victory in a pre-season friendly game this year, but the competitive game is another story.

Meanwhile Victory SC and Suzain is already under lot of pressure after the shocking loss to