By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterTHE TIES between Jamaican and English Premiership football were strengthened yesterday with the official announcement that national goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts will be joining Division One English Premier League club Bolton Wanderers.
"It is my honour to announce the signing of Donovan Ricketts, the No. 1 goalkeeper in the CONCACAF region to the English premiership team Bolton Wanderers," said Eric Manasse, who is the CEO of Ricketts' agency Logosport, at the Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF's) office in New Kingston.
"There is a brand new spirit in Jamaican football today and this signing is a direct result of this new spirit," Manasse said.
He went on to say that: "For any player to sign with a Premiership club is a great honour and for a Jamaican player especially it's an inspiration. Young players in Jamaica, Under-12, Under-14, Under-16, should look at this signing and say that this is an inspiration and through hard work and dedication with the national programme they too can be considered among the best players in the world," he said.
The rudiments of the signing were carried out by Pat Garel, who runs the Jamaican arm of Logosport. She represents other Jamaica players such as Onandi Lowe and Chris Dawes, whom she secured overseas contracts for.
Ricketts will be on a six-month loan to Bolton as of January 1 with the option of signing a three-year contract. Manasse said the move to initially have Ricketts on loan instead of an immediate contract was strictly a financial move on the part of the club. According to Manasse, the club would not have the funds to purchase Ricketts until the end of the year when it received its annual grant.
Ricketts' local club in the National Premier League, Village United, is onstream to earn big bucks from this move. The club is expected to receive a 30,000 pounds loan fee and a 300,000 pounds transfer fee from Bolton Wanderers.
Ricketts is the first Jamaican goalkeeper to receive an overseas contract and will join Reggae Boy teammate Ricardo 'Bibby' Gardner who has been with the team since 1998.
Technical director of the national football team, Carl Brown, lauded goalkeeping trainer Paul Campbell for the work he has done with Ricketts and other local players and described Ricketts' signing as the "pinnacle" of the football programme.
"This really is the pinnacle of what this national programme has achieved in the past two years," Brown said.
President of the JFF, Crenston Boxhill, said Ricketts deserves this deal as his admirable attitude and strength of character complements his discipline and work ethic towards the sport.
"I happen to know Donovan for a fairly long time ... and when you talk about hard work and a person who is committed, then you talk about Donovan Ricketts and I know that he is going to open doors and do us proud." Boxhill said.
