By Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
LONG-SERVING general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Horace Reid's tenure with the national football body might not be at an end just yet.
Reid tendered his resignation to new JFF boss Crenston Boxhill on Monday as he promised following Sunday's elections at the quadrennial congress in Trelawny that saw the nine-year tenure of Captain Horace Burrell come to an end.
Burrell, who replaced Heron Dale as president in 1995, was beaten 54-49 at the elections held at Starfish Resort.
Boxhill told The Gleaner yesterday however that he had had preliminary discussions with Reid and has asked him to continue in the position at least for a while to make for a smooth transition.
Boxhill said: "We are in discussion and there are no details yet, nothing has been worked out", but he confirmed that they would like Reid to stay on for the immediate future.
HIGHLY REGARDED
Reid, who left the island on Tuesday with the Portmore United team for their two-game CONCACAF Club Championship semi-final series with W-Connection in Trinidad later this week, is viewed by many as the driving force behind the JFF's administrative success and is highly regarded in football circles.
When asked on Sunday if he would stay on, Reid, whose position was changed from an elected one following the 1999 Congress in St. Elizabeth, to one where he is a paid employee, said he would allow the new administration to choose who would continue in the post.
When asked further if he would reconsider if he were the person they chose, he simply said "Let me think about it after I get some rest."
In announcing his resignation on Sunday, Reid, who read from a prepared script, had said he would step aside and allow Boxhill to "select the administrator with whom he would like to work, with the programme that he and his team has designed".
APPEALED FOR UNITY
He appealed for unity in the sport and while urging the "wider football family" to support the new team, added "there is a lot of work to do and while no one will ask or request that the new administration not take some time to celebrate ... we still have a football product to build".
While thanking those he has worked with and members of the press who he said had always treated him with the respect and dignity that the positions of general manager of national teams, Reid said "when the day is over we cannot consider personalities, it is the football products we are elected to serve".
