Drama, triumph, adversity, suspense, controversy, violence and tragedy. . . . these words might best sum up football in 2004 in a nut shell.

After experiencing perhaps one of the busiest years in local football history, an uneasy air of uncertainty has descended upon the local game leaving a huge question mark dangling over the national programme and Bermuda Football Association (BFA) waging a constant battle against serious issues which go against the very fundamental principles of the sport ? and society at large.

In what was perhaps local football?s darkest moment, armed thugs invaded Wellington Oval brandishing an arsenal of weapons and forced the abandonment of last April?s Friendship Trophy Final featuring North Village and Somerset Eagles.

When the dust had settled, one man had suffered head injuries and several others cuts or gashes inflicted by knives and machetes giving terrified onlookers a ghastly reminder of how today?s Bermuda pales in comparison to those of years gone by.

It was later learned that two individuals involved in the melee at Wellington Oval were in fact registered BFA players who have since been banned for life from a sport that is supposed to promote harmony and build character.

Government have since sought tougher legislation to make club venues increased penalty zones in an effort to curb the current trend of random acts of violence that continue to plague the local game.

But warnings of impending danger had been conspicuous all along as a player each from Devonshire Cougars, Somerset Trojans and Social Club were all set upon by armed thugs after matches at separate club venues.

After scoring a superb goal at Southampton Oval, Cougars? striker Shaki Minors was chased by a group of men in a car along South Shore Road while one week later, at the very same venue, a Social Club player received hospital treatment for minor injuries after being set upon by thugs. A Trojan player then narrowly escaped being set upon by a man allegedly wielding a knife as he left Malabar following a First Division contest.

Then there was the Premier Division encounter involving Dandy Town and Eagles at St.John?s Field that was abandoned not long after Hornets striker Khano Smith took a cheap shot to the back of the head from a rival player.

Violence also plagued youth football with the Under 17 league having to be scrapped for fear of yet another outbreak involving gangs of young men hell-bent on acting out vendettas in the public?s eye.

In an all-out counter measure to confront escalating fears of violence, the BFA, with the assistance of local Police, beefed up security at club grounds to ensure the 2003-04 campaign was completed in its entirety.

However, through despair came triumph, as Dandy Town emerged as the Island?s top dogs by clinching the coveted Premier Division Championship and FA Cup.

Playing integral roles in Hornets success, it was only fitting Town coach Devarr Boyles and veteran striker Carlos Smith were voted Coach and Most Valuable Player of the Year at season?s end.

Hornets clinched a second league championship in four years and a first FA Cup in 17 years ? thanks to the Herculean efforts of unlikely hero David Lawler who netted two spectacular goals in Hornets replay triumph over Cougars.

Cougars striker Heys Wolfe also became the first player ever to score a hat-trick on a losing FA Cup team in the same match ? the big cats second successive defeat in a cup final last season. Cougars also lost to North Village in the Martonmere Cup Final at the National Sports Centre (NSC).

Although they relinquished their grip on two of the league?s most coveted showpieces, Village still bagged three trophies (Friendship Trophy, Martonmere Cup and Charity Cup) to keep their pride intact ? though coach Scott Morton would severe ties with the club under a cloud of mystery at the end of the season ? along with several top referees.

PHC emerged as top dogs among the women?s ranks after walking away with the Charity and Konica Cups and league championship while Rude Girls reclaimed the FA Cup.

Macclesfield?s Bermudian striker Kyle Lightbourne also retired from playing professional football in the UK, while US-based David Bascome helped Baltimore Blast clinch the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) championship.

Bascome and Reading striker Shaun Goater were each awarded with the Queen?s Member of British Empire (MBE) Award while former West Ham striker Clyde Best received FIFA?s Merit of Order Award, was inducted into the local Hall of Fame and then honoured by the visiting Jamaican Ambassadors who also presented his former school West End Primary with computers and various other items.

For the first time in the competition?s 32 year history, the Martonmere Cup group phase was played in late afternoon sunshine after hurricane Fabian had destroyed floodlighting at club grounds.

The year also saw former Village and Bermuda midfield schemer Andrew Bascome come out of a two-year retirement. Bascome, currently coaching at Cougars, along with Morton, would later be overlooked as a successor to national coach Kenny Thompson.

Devonshire Colts and Hamilton Parish both bade farewell to top flight football as they plummeted to the First Division after enduring dismal seasons ? paving the way for PHC Zebras and Trojans to reclaim their Premier Division status.

Zebras clinched the First Division championship unbeaten while Trojans captured the First Division Shield before parting company with diminutive forward Damon Ming, currently seeking to land a lengthy deal at Conference club Barnet FC in the UK.

Last year also saw Bermudian players Stephen Astwood, Ming, Kevin Richards and Khano Smith all undergo trials in the UK.

On a sad note, former powerhouse Social Club dropped out of the First Division citing internal problems and difficulty fielding sufficient numbers for matches. But the Bluebirds have since rejoined the BFA?s ranks after weeding out the garden, no pun intended.

In what has now become a customary ritual over the off-season, in excess of 70 players sought transfers to new clubs.

On the International scene, former top BFA administrator, the late Dudley Eve might have flipped over in his grave after Barbados became the first ? and only ? foreign team to lay claim to the trophy honouring one of the association?s founding members in January.

The BFA then unveiled a new competition for the festive season, the Champions Cup, in an announcement made less than two weeks prior to the start of the tournament that effectively ended the final chapter on the Dudley Eve Trophy.

Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and Nicaragua would all visit the Island?s shores to provide a hastily assembled Bermuda national team some much needed, and long overdue, match practice ahead of what proved to yet another disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign.

After sitting idle for nearly two years, BFA youth director Kenny Thompson was given the helm of the national team in an interim capacity following the sudden, and mysterious, resignation of former coach Gary Darrell.

Last year also saw top BFA executives Robert Calderon and Aldwin Savery resign prior to the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Then came BFA general secretary David Sabir?s infamous pre - World Cup statement: ?We?re not in it to win it?, while a local disk jockey was fired for playing the wrong national anthems prior to tour matches at the National Sports Centre.

And while the debate over who and who should not be included in Thompson?s World Cup squad raged on, the local team produced some creditable results in the gradual build up to the tournament, defeating the likes of Nicaragua and drawing against highly-ranked Trinidad on local soil.

Once World Cup qualifying commenced in earnest, Bermuda slaughtered Montserrat 20-0 on aggregate to advance to the second round where, despite battling to an exciting home draw against El Salvador, the Island bowed out of the competition ? thus ending Thompson?s term at the helm of the team.

The BFA also came in for criticism from Sports Minister Dale Butler after a bed shortage nearly resulted in Bermuda having to play their World Cup qualifying return-leg against El Salvador in the US.

Bermuda?s Under 17 and Under 23 national youth teams also exited their respective World Cup qualifying campaigns in Jamaica and Cuba in the preliminary round ? but not before Thompson and Sabir lodged a public protest on national TV after the NSC?s board of trustees refused to grant the Island?s youth teams permission to train at the Frog Lane facility.

At the time, the NSC was preparing for incoming summer international cricket tours.

Last year also saw telecommunications giants AT&T Wireless sign a three year sponsorship deal with the BFA to the tune of $100,000, including putting up a cash incentive for the eventual Premier Division league champions. Night football also returned to Somerset Cricket Club for the first time in two years.

Former Coventry City striker Lightbourne ? who successfully completed a UEFA B License course in the UK ? was later named as Thompson?s successor and almost immediately put to task trying to assemble, motivate and encouraged players to attend training sessions.

With Bermuda?s involvement in the Digicel Cup Tournament thrown up in the air after hurricane Ivan battered host country Cayman Island, trying to urge players to attend national team practice became a top priority for Lightbourne who then cast the net wider in search of players that would commit themselves to the national programme after initially experiencing poor attendance at sessions.

Then of course there was the Heys Wolfe and Raymond Beach ? who topped the Premier Division scoring charts for the third straight year ? saga that dragged on for months after a BFA emergency committee banned the two players for their part in a verbal spat with national coach Thompson and BFA second vice president Gregory Grimes at the Sports Centre last February.

After an appeal by Devonshire Recreation Club had fallen on deaf ears, the Premier Division club took the matter to the Ministry of Sports Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) tribunal that later determined the association had conducted the disciplinary hearing in an ?inappropriate? manner, thus paving the way for the two strikers to resume playing.

Also beyond the pitch, the BFA?s Annual General Meeting (AGM) was cut short when affiliates voted to have the meeting adjourned after treasurer Delroy O?Brien failed to produce financial records from the previous two years.

All along, BFA president Larry Mussenden and former national coach Mark Trott were poised for what ultimately proved to a close race for the association?s top post.

There were those who reckoned Trott stood a good chance as he had gathered the backing of a group of former top BFA administrators ? among them retired executive Robert Calderon.

Once the meeting reconvened ? only after affiliates urged the BFA to get on with it without financial records ? Mussenden defeated Trott ? who had the rug pulled from under his feet by his club Somerset Cricket Club who instead rallied their support behind the incumbent ? by a single vote.

Then came last month?s Digicel Cup debacle in St.Vincent which saw a verbal request for an investigation into the eligibility of players from the British Virgin Island (BVI) national team disintegrate into thin air.

During the tournament the eligibility of three BVI players came to the fore after it was discovered they had previously played for host St.Vincent. After local head delegate Fred (Pinks) Lewis had been ?assured? by match commissioner Neville Ferguson that an investigation would take place, the CONCACAF official never included the Island?s concerns in his official match report nor were rules governing the tournament ever produced ? despite repeated request from the BFA prior, during and after the ill-fated regional competition.

In September, North Village became the first Premier Division club to win three Charity Cups on the trot and then in November become the first club ever to win nine Martonmere Cup titles and first to achieve back-to-back titles on three separate occasions.

Dandy Town top the Premier Division standings at the Christmas break but tragically lost promising full-back Randy Swan.

Swan died of massive head injuries sustained in a horrific two-car accident near the entrance to the Southampton Rangers Sports Club on South Shore Road, leaving local football in a state of mourning with the ushering of a new year.