On the destabilisation of St James football

Western Bureau:

Thirty-six years ago when I came to live in Montego Bay, the western city had a fabulous football product that ranged from top-flight clubs to top-flight players to exceptional administrators. Naturally, for the most part, fans were quite happy with what was on offer.

As a young sports journalist at the time, I had a very inquisitive mind, so from time to time, I would criticise aspects of the football product, to include the leadership style of the then FA president, businessman Wesmore Thomas, who could be quite brash and autocratic at times.

I remember being at Jarrett Park one afternoon when I was confronted by Thomas about an article I had written. After telling me off, he told me that instead of staying on the outside and criticising, I should seek to become a member of the board, which would allow me to advance my views from the inside.

Before walking off, Thomas told me that if I was willing to serve on the board, he would gladly draft me as a co-opted member. At the time, the board had outstanding stalwarts such as Jerry Reid and Lloyd Hamilton. Without a second thought, I told Thomas that I would accept his offer.

For the next 20-odd years, I was a permanent fixture on the St James football board, serving under presidents such as Sonny Vassell, Garfield Anderson, George Evans, Lennox Wallace, and Orville Powell. During those two decades, St James football flourished as top clubs Seba United, Wadadah FC, and Violet Kickers regularly won the Red Stripe NPL title.

JAM-PACKED MATCHES

During that fantastic period, football matches at Jarrett Park were jam-packed affairs with top-flight players like Anthony Corbett, Alton 'Noah' Sterling, Andrew 'Tappazukie' Sinclair, young Hector Wright, Clive 'Spiderman' Wedderburn all proving to be exceptional crowd-pullers.

Just over a decade ago, I gradually began to become disenchanted with St James football. From a position of pride, the product was steadily becoming scandal-ridden as some administrators began to put their personal interest above the interest of the parish's football. After making numerous attempts to have the situation fixed, I realised that I was fighting a losing battle, so I walked away from football administration.

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) turned a blind eye to numerous cases of irregularities in the parish, seemingly more interested in getting the parish's support at election time. Over time, I completely lost faith in the parish's football affairs and became an unrepentant critic, using this column to speak my mind.

Over the past five years, I have decided to turn a blind eye to St James' football. I simply stopped watching matches organised by the St James FA. In fact, I found myself not even discussing any matter, that had to do with the parish's football, which, to my mind, had hit rock bottom.

Last week, my interest was again aroused when I heard that Orville Powell, who has been quite successful in his quest to transform Montego Bay United FC into a world-class product, had announced that he would be challenging for the presidency of the St James FA.

While I have no doubt that Powell has the capacity to make St James football a worthwhile product, I rather suspect that there might be forces in national football that will be doing their best to get the FA's affiliates to reject his bid to lead the organisation.

I know that there are elements in the JFF that fear Powell greatly. I can't see them sitting back and allowing him to put himself in a position to make another run the for JFF presidency.

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