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Gwan Capo, Tony Becca's column
FROM THE BOUNDARY - Burrell is back, and good luck to him
published: Tuesday | November 6, 2007
Tony Becca
Four years after losing a close election to Crenston Boxhill, and nine years after taking Jamaica to its first and, up to now, only appearance in the World Cup Finals, Captain Horace Burrell is back as president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), and following the decline in the standard of play and in the country's ranking, he returns to a standing ovation and with many plans - some big ones at that.
In a bid to take Jamaica back to where it was in the heady days of the late 1990s when he was in charge, Burrell, the man who was also at the helm when Jamaica made it to both the Under-20 and the Under-17 World Cup Finals, has plans to improve coaching around the island, to develop the standard of referees, to build 10,000-seater stadiums in every parish, to improve the technical and commercial viability of the National Premier League, and to place emphasis on the youth programme and on the academy.
Top of the list, however, is the plan to take Jamaica to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup Finals. And if the plan for 10,000-seater stadiums in every parish seems like a pipe dream, at least if his plan is to build them in his lifetime, that, based on the present standard of football in the country, based on the present rankings of Jamaica at the FIFA level, at the CONCACAF level, and at the Caribbean level, seems highly improbable, if not impossible.
The year 2010 is only three years away and lest it be forgotten, lest even Burrell himself has forgotten, Jamaica, who, in 1999, was once ranked at number 39 in the world and above the likes of the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Turkey, Cameroon, the Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Greece, Iran and Australia, is now ranked at 103, in CONCACAF at number 14, and in the Caribbean at number seven - not only behind Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, but also behind the likes of St. Vincent & Grenadines, Guyana and Barbados.
Cost lots of money
Burrell
Although it will take something near to a miracle to lift the standard of the country's football to where it will produce footballers good enough to qualify Jamaica for the next World Cup, that may not be necessary, and for one simple reason: it is almost a safe bet that Burrell, in his bid to qualify and as he did in the 1990s, will pick up his passport, go to Europe with the coach and find some Jamaicans, including those of Jamaican parents, who are willing and eager to come 'home' and play in the hope of making it to the World Cup.
Burrell, like almost every Jamaican, loves to win and I am positive that he will give it his best shot, regardless of where his travels may take him, and also of the cost. And make no bones about it, it is going to cost a lot of money.
Burrell, however, is a go-getter. He bubbles with confidence, he has a winning personality and it is almost a safe bet that regardless of where it comes from, be it the government, the private sector or from the pockets of the fans, he will get enough money to do what he wants to do - not only to bring in players from Europe, but probably also to get a new coach, to bring back his old friend, Rene Simoes.
Convinced council members
I will never ever forget that day in early 1994 when Burrell turned up at a meeting of the National Council on Sports at Jamaica House, how he talked about the potential of Jamaica's football, how he talked about Jamaica qualifying for the 1998 World Cup Finals, how he promised that if he got some financial help Jamaica would qualify for the tournament, and how he convinced then Prime Minister P. J. Patterson to convince the council members to give him what he wanted.
The challenge to turn around the fortunes of Jamaica's football, to take Jamaica back to a ranking in the '30s and to take Jamaica to the World Cup Finals in 2010 will not be easy. If anyone can do it, however, that man, like him or not, is Horace Burrell. Good luck, Captain.
published: Tuesday | November 6, 2007
Tony Becca
Four years after losing a close election to Crenston Boxhill, and nine years after taking Jamaica to its first and, up to now, only appearance in the World Cup Finals, Captain Horace Burrell is back as president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), and following the decline in the standard of play and in the country's ranking, he returns to a standing ovation and with many plans - some big ones at that.
In a bid to take Jamaica back to where it was in the heady days of the late 1990s when he was in charge, Burrell, the man who was also at the helm when Jamaica made it to both the Under-20 and the Under-17 World Cup Finals, has plans to improve coaching around the island, to develop the standard of referees, to build 10,000-seater stadiums in every parish, to improve the technical and commercial viability of the National Premier League, and to place emphasis on the youth programme and on the academy.
Top of the list, however, is the plan to take Jamaica to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup Finals. And if the plan for 10,000-seater stadiums in every parish seems like a pipe dream, at least if his plan is to build them in his lifetime, that, based on the present standard of football in the country, based on the present rankings of Jamaica at the FIFA level, at the CONCACAF level, and at the Caribbean level, seems highly improbable, if not impossible.
The year 2010 is only three years away and lest it be forgotten, lest even Burrell himself has forgotten, Jamaica, who, in 1999, was once ranked at number 39 in the world and above the likes of the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Turkey, Cameroon, the Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Greece, Iran and Australia, is now ranked at 103, in CONCACAF at number 14, and in the Caribbean at number seven - not only behind Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, but also behind the likes of St. Vincent & Grenadines, Guyana and Barbados.
Cost lots of money
Burrell
Although it will take something near to a miracle to lift the standard of the country's football to where it will produce footballers good enough to qualify Jamaica for the next World Cup, that may not be necessary, and for one simple reason: it is almost a safe bet that Burrell, in his bid to qualify and as he did in the 1990s, will pick up his passport, go to Europe with the coach and find some Jamaicans, including those of Jamaican parents, who are willing and eager to come 'home' and play in the hope of making it to the World Cup.
Burrell, like almost every Jamaican, loves to win and I am positive that he will give it his best shot, regardless of where his travels may take him, and also of the cost. And make no bones about it, it is going to cost a lot of money.
Burrell, however, is a go-getter. He bubbles with confidence, he has a winning personality and it is almost a safe bet that regardless of where it comes from, be it the government, the private sector or from the pockets of the fans, he will get enough money to do what he wants to do - not only to bring in players from Europe, but probably also to get a new coach, to bring back his old friend, Rene Simoes.
Convinced council members
I will never ever forget that day in early 1994 when Burrell turned up at a meeting of the National Council on Sports at Jamaica House, how he talked about the potential of Jamaica's football, how he talked about Jamaica qualifying for the 1998 World Cup Finals, how he promised that if he got some financial help Jamaica would qualify for the tournament, and how he convinced then Prime Minister P. J. Patterson to convince the council members to give him what he wanted.
The challenge to turn around the fortunes of Jamaica's football, to take Jamaica back to a ranking in the '30s and to take Jamaica to the World Cup Finals in 2010 will not be easy. If anyone can do it, however, that man, like him or not, is Horace Burrell. Good luck, Captain.