It’s the end of the second year of Digicel’s sponsorship of the nation’s elite football competition, but officials from the telecommunications giants are already looking at ways to make the league better in years to come.
Speaking to The Gleaner amid a rain of confetti, as Harbour View were officially being crowned Digicel Premier League (DPL) champions for the 2009-2010 season, sports sponsorship manager, Paula Pinnock-MacLeod, expressed satisfaction with the way things played out this season, but stressed that there is still room for improvements.
“We are definitely excited, when we just came on board the transformation that we suggested was new and so we didn’t know what to expect, but we were blown away by the level of support and interest from the media and the fans and this year was absolutely no different,” said Pinnock-MacLeod.
Growth achieved
She highlighted the level of growth witnessed over the past two seasons and thanked the general public for the high level of interest and support, but was quick to point out that the sponsors will now be turning their attention to pulling out more spectators in seasons to come.
“I think football on a whole in Jamaica, in terms of the fan support and getting people to consistently come out to the games, for us as sponsors, that’s our challenge. We have to try and get people to come out, it’s something that we have improved on and we will continue to focus on this area,” Pinnock-MacLeod continued before offering congratulations to victors Harbour View which ended on 77 points, nine more than dethroned champions Tivoli Gardens.
“We are happy to be presenting the trophy to Harbour View, they certainly deserve it and we are excited at the level which football has come to in Jamaica even at the very end teams are still fighting for their place next season,” Pinnock-MacLeod beamed. “We are very pleased and we are definitely looking forward to season three.”
Edward Seaga, chairman of the Professional Football Association of Jamaica (PFAJ), which executes the management of the league, was also pleased and made special mention of the number of young players who were exposed this season.
Disappointment
Seaga, who also acts as president of the Tivoli Gardens Football Club, could not help but mention his disappointment that yesterday’s final-day clash between Harbour View was not a title decider, but pointed to the other end of the table, which provided a lot of excitement with Sporting Central Academy staving off relegation with a 2-1 triumph over Rivoli.
“It was another great season,” Seaga said. “It would have been a fantastic day if both teams (Harbour View and Tivoli) were playing for the trophy, but that was not to be. Anyway, there were some thrills at the bottom end of the league with Sporting Central and Rivoli, so once again it was a thrilling season.
“The level of play continues to grow and we have seen a lot of younger players coming into the mix, so this was really good for the development of the league,” Seaga added. “We are all aiming at bring in younger players as this will improve the game locally.”