Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
Larry Watson (second right), managing director of Wray and Nephew's distribution division, hands the National Premier League (NPL) Championship Trophy to Portmore United's coach, Paul Young (centre), at Monday night's awards ceremony at UWI. Looking on from left are Andrew Price, communications and promotions manager at Wray and Nephew, Portmore's skipper, Kevin Deerr, and Crenston Boxhill, president of the Jamaica Football Federation. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Crenston Boxhill, on Monday night announced that a special committee is being set up to revamp the National Premier League.
The responsibility of the committee, which is comprised of David Hunt, Cliff Williams, Clyde Juriedini, Donovan Wiles, Howard McIntosh, Andrew Price and Bruce Gaynor, is to help the Boxhill administration get the nation's premier league up to world-class standard.
Boxhill made the announcement during his address at the Wray and Nephew NPL presentation ceremony held at the Mona Visitors' Lodge at the University of the West Indies where Portmore United walked away with the lion's share of the awards.
"I believe that the league is improving but we cannot afford to be complacent," Boxhill said.
"This committee has been charged with the responsibility of analysing the league and make recommendations as to what we can do to further develop the league over the short term, medium term and long term. The ultimate goal is to make it a truly professional league".
Asked after the awards by The Gleaner which aspects of the football he would like fixed, Boxhill said he wants to bridge the gap between the top half and the bottom half of the clubs in the league along with the league's current format.
A TRUE LEAGUE
"It has to be a true league where the team which accumulates the most points become champions; also the gap between the top half and the bottom half of the teams and we want to look at, for example, why some teams keep coming up and going back down within a year," the president said.
Meanwhile, Portmore United's marksman Kevin Deerr was the top individual awardee at the event which was held away from the Jamaica Pegasus for the first time in more than 10 years.
Deerr captured four major awards which carried prize money amounting to $220,000. Apart from being the winning captain, Deerr, who scored in both legs of the final against Tivoli Gardens, was adjudged to be the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final round. Deerr was also awarded the prestigious Player of the Season and Tony Burrowes Trophy for discipline, commitment and hard work.
Adding to Portmore's dominance at the ceremony, Shawn Sawyers walked the red carpet to collect the top goalkeeper award which came with a cash prize of $20,000. He was winning the award for the fifth season in a row.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg for Portmore. Smartly decked out in black pants and sky-blue shirts, the players walked the runway to pick up their cheque of $1 million and the Wray and Nephew Champions Cup. This was however after Paul Young had accepted the winning coach award and Deerr the Best Defensive and the Fair Play team awards.
Other awards going to Portmore were the Under-21 championship silverware accompanied by $150,000 and the winning coach award which was won by Linval Dixon.
Harbour View collected their $1 million cheque for topping the league and a further $500,000 for placing third overall. But that was not all for the 'Stars of the East'. Donovan Hayles collected the Coach of the Year Award, an award for the most wins in the preliminary rounds (22) and stayed on to pick up the Junior Player of the Year award for his 19-year old striker, Luton Shelton.
The former Bridgeport striker Kemar Petrekin, who bagged the trophy for the Player of the Season in the Under-21s, also won the Top Goal-scorer Award while Shelton won the MVP of the final round trophy.
WELL REMUNERATED
Tivoli Gardens also left the awards decorated and well remunerated for a good season at both the NPL and Under-21 levels. For his 23 goals (seven less than the record set by Roen Nelson in the 2002/03 season), Christopher Nicholas received the Top Goal-scorer Award along with a cash prize of $25,000.
For being the top scoring team, Tivoli pocketed a plaque and $70,000, a further $30,000 and trophy for being the team which exhibited the best management and $700,000 and medals for finishing runners-up.
Desmond Francis, who copped the Coach of the Year Award for the Under-21 league, got a plaque and $25,000 for his efforts while his charges took home $60,000 for second place. Their goalkeeper, Kevin Graham, was also rewarded for having the safest hands all season.
Sponsors of the National Premier League, Wray and Nephew said that their involvement at the highest level of the county's football had proven to be money well spent. Communications and promotions manager of Wray and Nephew, Andrew Price, said the season just ended was undoubtedly the most exciting.
However, he said that there were definitely some areas of the football that needed to be improved if the league was going to get close to being professional.
"It has to do with spectator discipline. We need the clubs to step up so as to make the sport to be safe for everyone - one incident is one too many," said Price who also announced that out of respect for a great warrior, the Peter Cargill Trophy will be awarded to the most disciplined team in the Premier League as of next season.
