The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation on Friday fully endorsed the visits of several top professional clubs from the United Kingdom to Trinidad and Tobago next year for end of season camps through the efforts of Pro Sports Caribbean.
At the top of the list is English Premiership club Birmingham City, club of T&T's own Stern John.
Pro Sports Caribbean representatives Terry Fenwick and Peter Miller held discussions with TTFF President Oliver Camps who recognized the importance and benefits of such teams coming to these shores and instantly gave his thumbs up to the venture.
Among the other clubs lined up to play here include Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion. English First Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers and Scotland's Dundee will also make the trip to these shores.
“They are all quality teams and through our contacts we are now getting a lot of interest from teams looking to coming out here. It’s not just a football opportunity because we are also going to have supporters of these clubs coming out here as well and as such we are looking to get the local tourism board (TIDCO) involved.
The good thing about this is that we are getting written confirmation from the clubs at least six months in advance so that we can plan on facilitating them which includes tours around the island when they are here,” Fenwick told TTFF Media.
The Stadiums in Trinidad as well as the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet will be used for these games. He also spoke of plans of a possible Caribbean Cup involving local and overseas clubs.
“ We know that in countries like Holland, Spain, Italy and the far east, there are tournaments at the end of seasons and in preseason where clubs are desperate to go and play and now we see the opportunity to possibly have a Caribbean Cup here where these teams will be keen on coming to play against our local clubs and the national team. This is an option we are looking at,” said Fenwick.
Dundee will be the first to arrive in January. Birmingham are carded to be here in May and are expected to partake in coaching clinics and other events with the public along with matches. City, Wolves and Dundee are among the clubs already confirmed to make the trips while the others mentioned will be finalized in coming weeks.
Premiership campaigners West Bromwich Albion should be here in June-July.
Fenwick said so far Dundee, West Bromwich Albion, City and Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed coming and that negotiations are still taking place with Aston Villa, Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspurs. Pro Sports representative Peter Miller was all excited and highly anticipating the arrival of the teams.
"These visits are going to be a huge venture," said Miller. "Several of these top clubs have stated clearly their interest in coming to T&T because they realize that there is a wide range of talented players and top class facilities available.