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Thanks JFF, but deal with the kinks
Western Bureau
International football made its belated return to western Jamaica on Wednesday when the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium hosted the second leg World Cup qualifier between Jamaica and The Bahamas. It was the venue's first taste of football at any level.
Like most football fans in the west, getting the game was simply fabulous as the region had not staged an international game in many moons. In fact, our last international game was back in the early 1990s when the now defunct Wembley Stadium hosted several Caribbean Shell Cup games.
The fact that the Wembley Stadium, which once served as home to Wadadah FC, has been a thriving coconut farm for most of the past decade, means that prior to Wednesday's game, many of the younger fans in the stadium were experiencing international football in the west for the very first time.
Personally, I believe Captain Horace Burrell, the president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), should be commended for taking the decision to play the game in Trelawny because in so doing, he has kept a promise he made to bring back international football to the west if he was re-elected to lead the JFF.
In praising the JFF for bringing the game to the west, I nonetheless feel compelled to point out a few shortcomings I noticed on Wednesday in terms of the organisation of the game. In fact, I believe that had a little more thought gone into the planning, it would have been a near perfect scenario.
The most pronounced problem in my estimation was the seating arrangement and ticket cost, which led to a situation where, with most of the $500 seats going early via the 'pre-sold' route, scores of fans, who had hoped to get into the bleachers area, ended up missing the game because they could not afford the $2,500 grandstand cost.
fill the seats!
What was particularly disconcerting about that situation was that while these '$500 fans' were not able to access the stadium, many of the $2,500 seats remained empty for the entire duration of the game because there were no takers for them. I believe the JFF needs to find creative ways to ensure that no fans are turned away when there are empty seats inside the stadium.
I believe that it is important that the JFF takes note of the fact that, unlike the National Stadium, where the bleachers area is several times the size of the lone grandstand, the situation is the reverse in Trelawny with its two big grandstands and one small bleachers. In Kingston, the bleachers can probably seat 15,000 fans, while in Trelawny, only about 6,000 fans can be accommodated.
I believe that for future games in Trelawny, the JFF should increase the bleacher cost to $1000 and reduce the cost to the smaller of the two grandstands to $1,500. In so doing, a fan who did not get a bleachers ticket would only need another $500 to access the small grandstand. In that case more fans will be able to afford the cost to attend games.
Another problem I noticed was the absence of signs to assist patrons who were not familiar with the lay-out of the stadium. Many motorists wasted precious time seeking out parking areas and trying to find the correct entry points. The absence of ushers to assist patrons also created much confusion.
Nonetheless, as I said before, I believe the JFF should be commended for playing the game in the west. I am pretty positive that once the kinks seen on Wednesday are ironed out, the Trelawny facility could become a favourite venue for both the JFF and the fans from all across the island.
NB. Please feel free to send your feedback to adrianfrater@hotmail.com
Western Bureau
International football made its belated return to western Jamaica on Wednesday when the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium hosted the second leg World Cup qualifier between Jamaica and The Bahamas. It was the venue's first taste of football at any level.
Like most football fans in the west, getting the game was simply fabulous as the region had not staged an international game in many moons. In fact, our last international game was back in the early 1990s when the now defunct Wembley Stadium hosted several Caribbean Shell Cup games.
The fact that the Wembley Stadium, which once served as home to Wadadah FC, has been a thriving coconut farm for most of the past decade, means that prior to Wednesday's game, many of the younger fans in the stadium were experiencing international football in the west for the very first time.
Personally, I believe Captain Horace Burrell, the president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), should be commended for taking the decision to play the game in Trelawny because in so doing, he has kept a promise he made to bring back international football to the west if he was re-elected to lead the JFF.
In praising the JFF for bringing the game to the west, I nonetheless feel compelled to point out a few shortcomings I noticed on Wednesday in terms of the organisation of the game. In fact, I believe that had a little more thought gone into the planning, it would have been a near perfect scenario.
The most pronounced problem in my estimation was the seating arrangement and ticket cost, which led to a situation where, with most of the $500 seats going early via the 'pre-sold' route, scores of fans, who had hoped to get into the bleachers area, ended up missing the game because they could not afford the $2,500 grandstand cost.
fill the seats!
What was particularly disconcerting about that situation was that while these '$500 fans' were not able to access the stadium, many of the $2,500 seats remained empty for the entire duration of the game because there were no takers for them. I believe the JFF needs to find creative ways to ensure that no fans are turned away when there are empty seats inside the stadium.
I believe that it is important that the JFF takes note of the fact that, unlike the National Stadium, where the bleachers area is several times the size of the lone grandstand, the situation is the reverse in Trelawny with its two big grandstands and one small bleachers. In Kingston, the bleachers can probably seat 15,000 fans, while in Trelawny, only about 6,000 fans can be accommodated.
I believe that for future games in Trelawny, the JFF should increase the bleacher cost to $1000 and reduce the cost to the smaller of the two grandstands to $1,500. In so doing, a fan who did not get a bleachers ticket would only need another $500 to access the small grandstand. In that case more fans will be able to afford the cost to attend games.
Another problem I noticed was the absence of signs to assist patrons who were not familiar with the lay-out of the stadium. Many motorists wasted precious time seeking out parking areas and trying to find the correct entry points. The absence of ushers to assist patrons also created much confusion.
Nonetheless, as I said before, I believe the JFF should be commended for playing the game in the west. I am pretty positive that once the kinks seen on Wednesday are ironed out, the Trelawny facility could become a favourite venue for both the JFF and the fans from all across the island.
NB. Please feel free to send your feedback to adrianfrater@hotmail.com