Horace Reid - File

THOUSANDS UPON thousands of fans packed the National Stadium to watch Jamaica's last three World Cup qualifiers against Honduras, Mexico and Canada.

The huge crowds moved the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to install temporary Red Stripe stands on the cycle track to accommodate spectators and, yet still, some fans were turned away because there was still no space to accommodate them.

In stark contrast, the stadium was a comparative ghost town for the Reggae Boyz opening match of the Digicel Cup Caribbean against Barbados last week and also the semi-final game against Guadeloupe on Thursday.

Horace Reid, general secretary of the JFF, was less than impressed by the turnouts.

"We at the JFF are not happy with the level of turnout because we were expecting that a lot more fans would be watching these games," said Reid. "However, I must commend the people of western Jamaica, Montego Bay in particular, for the tremendous support that they gave us at the game against Grenada," he said.

Important tournament

Reid noted that the Digicel Cup is an extremely important tournament because it is the "Caribbean's World Cup".

The four semi-finalists in the Digicel Cup tournament will secure a place in next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will be held in July in the United States.

"Winning this tournament will significantly enhance our rankings of the FIFA list. It will also restore our recently bruised reputation in the international football community. It will also reinspire confidence among our players and coaches, both locally and internationally," said Reid.

He said because of the team's failure to advance to the final round of the World Cup, the JFF lost millions of dollars.

"We will need help from the Government during this period because this is such an important endeavour for thousand of players, coaches and administrators, who have directly, and indirectly, been able to provide for their families through football," he said.

For Shawnette Pike, who made the journey from Harbour View, to watch the semi-final against Guadeloupe, it was just another day at 'The Office' for her.

"Football is life and I love the sport. I would always support the Jamaican team. That's one of the main reasons why I am here tonight," said Pike, who describes herself as a big supporter of Premier League outfit Harbour View.

"I am very disappointed that we didn't qualify for the World Cup but we have to continue to support our country because sports, in general, brings people together and this is also one of the reasons why I am here tonight," she said. "This Digicel Cup is not really important to me but, as a true lover of the game, this match could not have missed me."

Hardened football fan

Latus McLaren, who journeyed from St Catherine, said: "I have to be here today because I am a hardened football fan. I am a supporter and lover of the game and a man who used to play the game. I have to be here.

"This Digicel Cup is very important for us because it will help us to improve our FIFA rankings and it will help our younger players, who wish to ply their trade abroad to get a work permit," he said. "I think if we had gone through to the final round of World Cup qualifiers the stadium would have been full for these Digicel Cup matches."

Another female fan, who did not wish to give her name, said she was mainly there for ambience.

"I just happen to be here because someone at my workplace gave me a free ticket and so I decided to come to the match," she said.

"I really don't know anything about football but these players are representing our country and that also helped to prompt me to be here."