While the Dudley Eve Trophy competition has given lovers of domestic football something to watch in the past few weeks, now is the time for the serious stuff to start.

The First Division league season begins at Goose Gosling Field at 8pm on Friday night, when Cecoy Robinson takes charge of Robin Hood for the first time against BAA.

Robinson, the under-20s national team manager, assumed the role from Detroy Smith and is hoping to make an instant impact with Hood, promising to implement a philosophy of attacking football.

Hood are widely expected to be one of the challengers for automatic promotion this season and they seem to have recruited well in the summer, bringing in former Boulevard Blazers captain Ian Coke and Tokia Bean from North Village among 14 new arrivals, with Robinson also expecting to play a role on the pitch.

The First Division has been reduced to nine teams following the withrdrawal of Ireland Island Rangers, who forfeited their final three games of last season after being unable to field a team.

Their absence means that X-Roads Warriors and their returning coach Farid El Karfa must wait a further week to begin their campaign as they are the first team on a bye week.

The remaining games in the First Division this weekend feature Boulevard taking on Somerset Eagles at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night at 7pm, with Sunday’s matches including Southampton Rangers facing Somerset Trojans at Southampton Oval (1.30pm) and Vasco da Gama taking on St David’s (1.30pm) at Goose Gosling Field.