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TTFA launches the T&T Premier Football League at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain on Monday, February 6th 2023.
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At long last, local football appears ready to get started again.

In many countries around the world, competitive football for the top players is being played and has been playing for several months, so why has it taken T&T such a long time?

We are being told that this new TT Premier Football League (TTPFL) has been approximately 18 months in the making. Wow, 18 months! It should be the best-planned football league in the history of world football.

Please forgive me, but I recall there was a committee formed a few years ago with Lindsay Gillette as the chairman and they set about with a formula for a new league to develop the Pro League and have a sustainable second division with promotion and relegation. My understanding was that a proposal was presented to the powers that be at the time, but the usual politics stepped in and it was just left hanging because it supposedly did not fit the criteria that some of the ‘big boys’ had in mind and it was just left to fall by the wayside.

Interestingly enough, the Ascension League had quite a successful tournament and then the Secondary Schools Football League also had a very successful 2022 season with large crowds attending the games, especially the finals in both the League and Intercol. It is therefore beyond me to understand why this TTPFL did not get off the ground at least 12 months ago.

I know there will be 101 reasons why it took 18 months of planning to get a ball kicked but in the meanwhile, and perhaps the most destructive fact is that T&T’s footballers have suffered from a huge lack of playing time. How come the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) started at least a year ago? Is the JPL different? The answer to that is yes, they seem to be more structured and while I am sure there is politics involved, it has not kept them back from organising their players in good, top-class competition.

T&T’s men’s head coach Angus Eve has been begging and pleading for competitive football to resume at the top level as he has been at a serious disadvantage in terms of assessing the ability of his players in a competitive setting. Hopefully, we can see the Soca Warriors finally benefiting from this league with many more young players holding their hands up and trying to make the breakthrough at the international level.

The start of the league happens on March 10 and runs for just about two months then they go into a knockout playoff. Thankfully, because of the Ascension League, most of these clubs would have been ready for the start of this league having at least been exposed to some level of competition.

When one goes through the list of the teams/clubs, a fan mentioned to me he would have liked to have seen more community teams involved and I could not argue with his point. The community teams in T&T now seem to gather the majority of support in games simply because one is able to identify with the team. Wouldn’t I support Cunupia FC if I was living in Cunupia and its environs? Having said that, better marketing from the league administrators is desperately needed. Football fans want to come and see exciting football but also players who have style, flair and panache but these players have to be sold to the public for them to come out and see who are the various stars of the teams.

This league has a lot of work to do. If you recall, at most Pro League matches, crowds did not come out as the football played by some of the clubs was sub-standard. After you go once to a game and it is drab and lacking in basic skills, you will not go back. Even if the scoreline suggests a competitive game, if the ability shown by players is lacking, the public will be very unlikely to support consistently.

The administration of football in T&T is perceived by many to be at rock bottom and it is clear that people no longer vote for who can do the job but rather, friends vote for friends and they look for favours in exchange for their votes. It is something that plagues many national sporting bodies in this country but football is certainly one that suffers the most.

Running a competitive football league will not bring back the trust that local football fans have in the administration of the game. What brings back trust is ensuring that the people who get into positions of authority have a high level of integrity, honesty and a clean record that they are trusted to run a steady ship and keep it afloat. In addition, players have to believe the administration is working for their betterment as for far too long in T&T, players do not trust administrators.

When one looks at T&T’s standings regionally, it is going to take some time before the country can get back to the top and replace Jamaica as the leading Caribbean territory when it comes to football. This could very well be the start but it can’t be a stop-start scenario. Players need to be playing football throughout the year with a two-month break before the season starts again. That is the only way in which this country’s footballers will improve and ascend to the top of the ladder.

I am pleased that the clubs will each stand to benefit from a cash injection from FIFA and the government. I sincerely hope the clubs use the funds wisely. Yes, pay the players handsomely but also ensure that the very clubs have a proper development structure in place. The clubs have to start to stand up on their own two feet rather than look for handouts. This is a great start for them however, they must begin to market themselves and their players to attract sponsorship and have multiple fundraisers to keep the club ticking. We have gone past the dreaded COVID lockdowns when nothing was happening (no fundraisers etc.) to keep your club afloat it is now up to all the clubs to get up and seek their own source of funds. I know it is going to be a rough road with some clubs to become self-sustainable but to be honest, that has to be the way forward to get the supporters involved as I am sure some will have ideas to keep clubs on an upward trend.

Let us keep our fingers and toes crossed that this is the start of the journey to see T&T’s talented footballers take its football out of the dark ages and as the late great icon the Black Stalin sang, “better days are coming”.


SOURCE: T&T Guardian