Premier Division league and FA Cup champions Dandy Town, cross-town rivals Devonshire Cougars and Boulevard all profited considerably during the off-season transfer period.

And having now successfully acquired the services of several key players, it?s almost a certain bet the trio will again be the league?s teams to beat during the upcoming 2004-05 season which kicks off on Saturday, September 11 with a Charity Cup double header at BAA Field.

Beginning at 6 p.m., last season?s Womens FA Cup champions Lady Cougars (formerly Rude Girls) go up against Konica and league champions PHC while current Martonmere Cup, Friendship Trophy and two-time defending Charity Cup champions North Village are slated to take on the might of a Town side that put an end to their two-year reign as league and FA Cup champions during the previous campaign at 8 p.m.

Town managed to lure the services of Ottis Steede from Southampton Rangers, Dennis Zuill, Lorenzo Simmons and striker Lloyd Holder of Devonshire Colts, Hamilton Parish?s Jahmiko Marshall, Adam Outerbridge ? who saw very little or no action at Somerset Trojans following a move from Wolves in 2001-02 ? along with Bermuda Under 20 national team goalkeeper Daniel Johnson from nearby Village and St.George?s Ernest Signor Jr.

Last year?s league, Martonmere and FA Cup runner?s up Cougars also cashed in over the off-season, increasing their roster with five new additions to the team.

Now on their way to the Den are Darius Cox from neighbouring Boulevard, Mel Bowen Jr. from St.George?s, Kevin Simpson, Jamel Simmons, Dyke Lawrence and potent striker Aljame Zuill all from Devonshire Colts who had their ranks ? along with fellow relegated team Hamilton Parish ? severely depleted after falling from grace during the previous campaign.

The off-season, however, has so far has proven to be bitter-sweet for Cougars who signed Andrew Bascome to a lengthy coaching deal but still await the fate of key strikers Raymond Beach and Heys Wolfe which now rests solely in the hands of a Bermuda Football Association special disciplinary committee.

The pair, arguably the league?s top striking duo, initially received a lengthy suspension for their involvement in a heated verbal exchange with then national coach Kenny Thompson at the National Sports Centre earlier this year, a ban the club have officially appealed against and now await the special committee?s final deliberations.

Boulevard, meanwhile, managed to successfully pry former Bermuda national team skipper Meshach Wade away from Southampton Rangers while temperamental striker Marvin Belboda has also joined the club?s ranks, his third transfer in the past four seasons.

Veteran forward Dwight (Payback) Warren, now nearing the end of a illustrious domestic football career, is also heading back to Boulevard after enjoying considerable success at Village ? yet to announce a successor to coach Scott Morton who retired at the end of last season ? in the new millennium.

Village picked up only one addition, that of Parish?s Jamel Dill while Trojans, promoted to the top flight last season, have acquired Stephen Burrows and Keion Simmons from neighbouring Somerset Eagles, St.David?s? Richard Campbell along with Parish and Bermuda national team forward Clevon Hill and PHC Zebras striker Stephen Astwood who underwent trials in the UK this summer.

Zebras, last year?s First Division league champions, are set to welcome diminutive defender Enwar and keeper Quincy Hunt back into the fold along with David Hunt, though now gone are promising forward Dennis Russell and Astwood who seems to have done away with family tradition and broken ranks at the Warwick club.

So far, a total of 25 players have either obtained transfers or releases in the Premier Division while the First Division saw 37 players ponder moves elsewhere, the bulk of which from relegated Colts and Parish who, combined, lost a total of 22 players.