JFF president Captain Horace Burrell - File

NOTHING but a combined effort from every member of the team will repair the damaged state of football in western Jamaica.

That's the view, in not so many words, of Captain Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).

The sport had been so powerful in western Jamaica that between 1987 and 1997, teams from that part of the island, such as Seba United, Wadadah, Reno and Violet Kickers, won nine of the 11 National Premier League competitions.

Violet Kickers, Wadadah and Seba are no longer playing premiership football and Reno, one of two teams from the west now in the Premier League, are facing demotion. Reno are at the bottom of the 12-team standings on 29 points while the other western contender, Trelawny's Village United, are 11th on 33. There are three rounds of matches remaining.

resignations and changes

Additionally, there have been resignations and changes within the administrative bodies out west, including that of its confed chairman, Orville Powell, who stepped down.

"We're very concerned," Burrell said about the state of affairs. "But it's not something which has happened overnight.

"We saw it coming ... and you'll recall that recently when the Digicel Caribbean Cup was hosted in Jamaica, the JFF lost millions because we hosted some of the games in western Jamaica. But it was more important for us to lend our support by giving the Digicel Cup, part of it, to western Jamaica," Burrell pointed out. "What needs to happen in the west is all the minds need to come together and I'm prepared to lead that thrust."

He added: "We wanted to raise the awareness of the importance of football in the west, hence we gave them the number of games at Jarrett Park and the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium. We realise that football needed this but again, when you look it has not helped."

He added: "When you look also, you see the teams not doing so well in the Premier League and at all levels of football there have been slippage. But we believe that with the level of talent, both administratively and technically, that is available in the west, once the right medicine is applied, we will see a quick resurgence of football in the west."

Part of that revival, Burrell feels, must be engineered by new people.

"I am confident that football in the west will take its rightful place, needless to say there has to be changes.

"I just believe that we've to see a lot of new faces all around because there's no shortage of talent, be it at the administrative level or the level of our players."

Funding, the JFF president says, is also necessary and businesses operating in the area should invest more football.

"If a way is not found to woo corporate communities on board soon, then you could be looking at even a more rapid decline because whatever you do, you've to have funds," he said.

"I think that western Jamaica has been treated very unfairly by the corporate community. When you look at the amount of money that circulates in western Jamaica and when you look at the lack of support from those corporate citizens, it is alarming and must be of great concern to all and I would like to use this opportunity to ask for support for football from the corporate world in western Jamaica," urged Burrell, who sponsors the St James knockout and western Confederation Super League through his company, The Captain's Bakery & Grill.

Continuing, Burrell said: "Once we get this support, I believe we will see personnel with the requisite skills stepping forward, players will be more motivated and, on a whole, the quality of football will improve because football is the heartbeat of the people in western Jamaica, it's the heartbeat.

"Look at the large hotel chain, look at the number of successful businesses, a lot of them earning in foreign currency. So there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be supporting football," Burrell argued.

"When football is not given any form of priority from the corporate entities and from the citizens themselves, then it's great cause for concern and I'm hoping that before long we will see a coming together of the entities to make football take its rightful place in the sporting world in western Jamaica.

"A careful look at the sporting activities in western Jamaica will reveal that football is by far the most loved sport, the most played and one which acts as a catalyst to providing the unity and therefore the reason why all should come together and give football the sort of shot in the arm that it needs right now," he reasoned.

"We're trying what we can to assist in every way. We've been meeting with our members in that area, we set up seminars, training - training of administrators and also referees. It is for these said reasons why we've done that to try and lift the bar. But the JFF can do so much and no more," Burrell pointed out.

"However, I think it can't be that we only blame those who are not supporting. We've to look beyond that and identify the reason why they're not and that process is currently in train ... and the JFF, recognising the importance of football across the country, will be pulling out all the stops to assist our brothers in the west to bring back football where it belongs."