PFJL boss buoyed by fan return this weekend
Published:Wednesday | February 23, 2022 | 4:54 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
CHAIRMAN OF Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), Christopher Williams, expects the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) to get a massive lift with the return of spectators for the first time in nearly two years at Drax Hall this weekend.
Premier League football returned last June after more than a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But no spectators were allowed.
However, the PFJL was recently granted government approval for the National Stadium, Stadium East, Sabina Park and Drax Hall to open up to 1,300 vaccinated spectators, starting with this weekend’s round of games at Drax Hall in St Ann, which is also the home ground of league leaders, Mount Pleasant.
Williams told The Gleaner that Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash between Mount Pleasant and Waterhouse is the ideal game for the return of fans, who will also be entertained by a full day of activities.
“The Premier League has been very exciting so far and now that you have spectators, we expect the energy levels to go up a couple notches.
“We look forward to having a bumper crowd, as this will be the first Premier League game in two years that will have spectators.
“It will really lift the spirit of the players and they will feed off the energy of the crowd, plus the turf at Drax Hall is spectacular, so we anticipate lots of excitement and great football,” he said.
BIG TIME CLASH
According to Williams, the game on Saturday, and not just because it is a top-of-the-table clash, features two of the more exciting ball-playing teams and is expected to be the best of the season to date.
“Saturday’s clash will be worth going miles to see. This will be a top-of-the-table clash between the unbeaten Mount Pleasant and Waterhouse who are hungry after dropping four points in two games and cannot afford to drop any more,” said Williams.
Rural teams have complained of having to travel to Kingston weekly to play matches and Williams pointed out that Mount Pleasant and Montego Bay United, who have had a tough start to the season, will be a little closer to home and will have the opportunity to get their fans behind them to boost their efforts.
“MoBay United play on Sunday. So the Montego Bay crowd can come up and see and support their team. Arnett Gardens, one of the crowd favourites, will be playing on Monday so all weekend we will see some excellent matches,” he said.
He added that their next move is to get other venues approved and have lights installed at Drax Hall and at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence so they can host games under cooler conditions.
“There are still venues to get approved and we are still making submissions and appealing to the powers that be to give us some more venues and give the fans a chance to see their players.
“We will be looking to go to Catherine Hall and move the football right around the country and very shortly, we will have night games to make it much cooler for the players and the fans,” he said.
Only vaccinated fans will be allowed access to the venues and the JFF platform will be used to identify compliant spectators, while Digicel will provide support to patrons in accessing the system.
“You have to be vaccinated. So I encourage everyone to get their vaccination. We will be using the same system as the JFF and we are going to work with our partner, Digicel, to help those who need assistance in logging on to the system.
“So if you want, you can go to a Digicel store and they will assist you,” he added.
The cost for entry to the games is $1,000 on Saturday and Sunday and $700 on Monday.