Butler to step away from Mona to concentrate on Phoenix

The Craig Butler era at Mona High will end after this ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup season and he believes he has achieved his objective when he took over as their coach last season.

Butler argues that he has shown the top brass of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) the capabilities of both his players and himself in the two seasons at Mona and will now be concentrating on his Phoenix Football Academy.

"We have made our presence felt and the talent can no longer be hidden by the Jamaica Football Federation. Fairness still does not permeate the fabric of our society and I want nothing to do with any organisation that treats one player different than another based on where he is from, the colour of his skin or which club he belongs to," Butler said.

His stated mission from the start of the season and his tenure at Mona High has been about the long-term development of players, the majority of which play at Phoenix. Butler in an Instagram post on Wednesday closed the book on the Mona project saying he is focusing on those players ready to pursue their professional dreams.

"Phoenix will continue to develop and be the light for others to follow," he said.

Before Butler and his players turn the page, they will hope to book their quarter-final place by finishing off Tivoli High in the second leg of their knockout round tie of the Manning Cup at Jamaica College at 3 p.m. today.

Mona High won the opening leg on Tuesday 2-0, thanks to a brace from the inform Donhue Mitchell, which extended their winning run to 11 games since the start of the competition in September.

While the ultimate goal for Butler has never been about winning the Manning Cup, Mona will hope to sign off the campaign with a first-ever piece of silverware of any kind with an offence that has scored 57 goals this season, the most any team has scored in the competition.

Tivoli entered the second round having scored the most goals in Group C with 20 although they conceded 13 in group play. They have qualified for the second round twice in the last six years.