THE JAMAICA Football Federation (JFF) must be commended for the speedy transition of the sponsorship of the National Premier League from the Cigarette Company to Wray and Nephew.
On Monday of this week, less than 24 hours after the last game of the current season, there was a professional changing of the guard and an increase in sponsorship to boot.
One hundred million dollars over five years is lots of money, especially in our economy, and Wray and Nephew must be applauded for their faith in our football.
Then again, if there is one commodity that can never stay on the shelves in Jamaica too long, it is alcohol. Fortunately or unfortunately, we have earned a reputation for being serious drinkers and that should keep the rum company in business for a long time to come.
If they are to come anywhere near the almost 20 years of association with Jamaican's top club football league that the Cigarette Company had, Wray and Nephew will have to extend their sponsorship for a long time to come, as five years will only qualify as a start.
The JFF's gain, however, is a loss for Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) and the St. Elizabeth FA. With the emphasis now on the NPL, both parishes will lose the sponsorship for their major competitions and will now have to go seeking new sponsor for next season.
It is interesting to note that the Cigarette Company's involvement ended during a good run by the KSAFA teams. KSAFA teams have won the last five Premier League competitions after winning the first four titles after the Cigarette Company took over the sponsorship of the competition in 1982.
Between 1986-87 and 1996-97, rural area teams (read Western teams) had however taken a stranglehold of the competition, winning 11 times. Two years after Seba became the first western team to make it to the finals, losing to the JDF, they won the first of their two titles in the 1986-87 season.
For the next 11 seasons, Reno of Westmoreland won the competition three times, Wadadah and Violet Kickers of St. James each won it twice, with Hazard of Clarendon taking the title home in the 1992-'93 season.
Boys' Town, the only Kingston team to win the competition in the heydays of the western teams, actually beat another western team, Seba United, to win their last major title, way back in 1988-89.
The chances of a western-based team going on another good run is quite remote. Firstly, three of the teams Reno, Seba and Violet Kickers who have combined for seven titles and another six appearances in the finals, no longer play in the top league.
With the possibility of the National A-League being scrapped before the start of next season, qualification to the NPL will be even more difficult, and Seba and Reno may be in the 'wilderness' longer than they expect.
It is a brand new day for the Premier League, however, and as they say with new starts, hope springs eternal, even for western teams.
The question now is if the new sponsors will be having product sampling at matches. That might be a bad idea. With the mentality of some of our so-called fans, it might be instructive to ask them not to drink at all on match days.
This suggestion might not be so far-fetched, as I recall a by-law in the JFF handbook some years ago, banning smoking on or near the substitute bench by coaches or players. And this was during the sponsorship by Cigarette Company.
The new sponsorship must be all positive, however, and is a long overdue positive news on the football front in this country.
