By Nodley Wright, Staff Reporter
Carl Stephenson (right), chief marketing officer of Wray and Nephew, and Captain Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaica Football Federation, discuss plans for the football festival set for August 25 to kick off the 2002/2003 NPL football competition. Both men attended a press conference held at the JFF headquarters yesterday. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer
WRAY AND Nephew, new sponsors of the National Premier League, have pulled out all the stops to kick off the 2002/2003 football season with a bang. The season is tentatively set to begin on September 1.
On Sunday, August 25, they will stage a "Festival of Football" at Sabina Park including a showdown between Liverpudlian legends, headlined by Jamaica-born John Barnes, going up against Jamaican stars of the past. Another game that day will pit an All-star team from the east against one from the west.
The announcement was made by brand manager of Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum, Andrew Price, at a press conference held at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) headquarters yesterday.
"Following our intentions to sponsor the National Premier League, we thought long and hard of how we could launch the new sponsorship with a momentous event," said Price.
"From those deliberations we arrived at the Wray and Nephew Festival of Football," he said.
This event, he said, would demonstrate his company's commitment towards the development of football in Jamaica and also to officially launch its association with the game at the highest level in the country.
Besides Barnes, who starred for Liverpool in the 1980s and early '90s, goalscoring legend Ian Rush and his lookalike, John Alridge, who replaced him, will be star attractions. Standout at the 2001 Under-20 World Cup, goalkeeper Allien Whittaker will stand between the sticks for the Liverpool legends while St Thomas Technical goalscoring machine Newton Sterling will provide backup fire power.
Current technical director designate Carl Brown will captain the Jamaica legends in a team which includes Howard Bell, who represented the country at the senior level for 18 years, Barrington Gaynor, Lenworth Hyde, Paul "Tegat" Davis and Peter Cargill.
The All-stars of the east will be chosen from Arnett Gardens, Tivoli Gardens, Hazard United, Waterhouse, Constant Spring, Rivoli and Bull Bay. This team will be coached by Jerome Waite and Lenworth Hyde. Reno, Village United, Seba United and Wadadah will make up the All-stars of the west to be coached by Dr. Dean Weatherly and Wendell Downswell.
Entrance fees will range from $200 for the Bleachers, $500 for the Air Jamaica Stand, $700 for the George Headley Stand and $1,000 for the all-inclusive Wray's Tavern which will be similar to the Mound which operates during cricket.
Legend teams: Liverpool Legends - Phil Neal, Rob Jones, David Johnson, Ronnie Whelan, Gary Gillespie, John Wark, John Aldridge, Ian Rush, John Barnes (captain), Terry McDermott, David Fairclough, Allien Whittaker and Newton Sterling.
Jamaiva Legends - Donovan Hayles, Barrington Gaynor, Carl Brown (captain), Lenworth Hyde, Peter Moses, Ali McNab, Peter Cargill, David Bernard, Chris Ziadie, Paul "Tegat" Davis, Lincoln Taffe, Michael Tulloch and Howard Bell.
