Though they finished at the bottom of the inaugural Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) season which ran from March - June 2023, Eagles FC (formerly known as Cunupia FC) are promising an attractive and entertaining brand of football for the upcoming season which starts on November 24.
Eagles managed just two wins from 22 matches as they brought up the rear of the 12-team table with just eight points. However, with a familiar face and name in Kevon "Showtime" Woodley returning to their ranks, coach Michael De Four expects his Eagles team to soar to new heights in the TTPFL's second season.
"We wanted to rebrand and change our name in keeping with our goals and aspirations going forward," De Four said during an interview with Newsday, likening the team's transformation to the process of metamorphosis. "Cunupia was a wonderful club. We came up from being a sweat side and a zonal side, then we basically ran through the Super League and ended up in the top tier."
Led by the influence of the heavy scoring Woodley, Eagles finished third in the 2018 Super League season and also lifted the Super League knockout competition in the same season after getting by QPCC in the final. They were then accepted into the Pro League for the 2019/20 season which was interrupted by covid19.
After a difficult first season in the TTPFL, the 37-year-old Woodley wants to inspire his team to a top-three finish as he targets the prospect of qualifying for Concacaf's club competitions. He says teams should be aware of the Eagles threat for the upcoming campaign.
"When (other teams) are coming to play us, let them come with their A-game," said the Tobago-born striker. "The system we are playing right now, I doubt they will be able to keep up with that system.
"We started to train before a lot of the teams so I believe we are about 85 per cent ready. About four Haitians came into (the team) so they have kinda changed the complexion of the team. The team is looking like a very lively team going forward. This team can do some damage going forward this season."
Woodley featured prominently for Eagles in the Ascension Invitational Tournament in 2022, but he played with a youthful Jabloteh team in the inaugural TTPFL season after joining them in the mid-season transfer window. Despite his late entry into the league, the former T&T beach soccer standout tallied ten goals in the TTPFL – a goal count which saw him ending tied for fourth on the scoring charts.
"Last season, I came in at the latter part of the season and scored (ten goals)," Woodley said. "This season I'm starting from on top so I think I'll be looking for at least 22 or 23 goals. If I get 25 goals it would be a plus, but I am looking for 23.
"Once I get a team who is working for me defensively I think we would reach far."
Woodley says age is just a number as he paid homage to the 36-year-old Lionel Messi who won his eight Ballon D'or award on Monday. The man who hails from Charlotteville in Tobago's countryside, says he has a lot to offer in what could be his last season in local football's top flight.
De Four said Woodley brings experience and a winning mentality to the Eagles set-up. By all accounts, the Eagles coach will also be expecting Woodley to bring a bag of goals as his team sets their targets for the new season.
"We have set a goals target in terms of the number of goals we would like to score for the season," De Four said. "We want to score more than 40 goals for the league season and we want to concede less than 15 goals. We have to set realistic goals.
"I think the season will be very revealing because we are going back to a brand of football which is entertaining. We hope to play attractive football that is easy on the eyes."
In February, Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis and the T&T government committed a $TT 9 million-sum to the TTPFL over a three-year period, to go along with funding from the Fifa Forward Programme 3.0. De Four says he's longing for the day the TTPFL lands a big corporate sponsor to serve as a catalyst for the teams in the league to follow.
"I would like to see the TTPFL get about $10 million for the league to be called 'x, y, z league' and that will trickle down to the clubs who will get investors who will invest upwards of $200,000. I would think the league could take the first leap.
I would like to hear tomorrow the league has got sponsorship for a five-year deal. From the time that happens, the whole landscape changes because businesses would say if 'x, y, z' could invest, then I could invest as well."
De Four was tight-lipped on Eagles' own quest for additional sponsorship, saying: "No comment on that. It's a work in progress."
The Eagles coach said the process of sourcing sponsorship can be a complex one, as clubs aren't given sufficient time to put these things in place in the off-season.
"You need to get a longer notice so clubs can approach whatever companies. I am not saying you will get through, but you will have a better chance because companies can now put it in their budget for the upcoming year," De Four said.
"In a perfect world, you'll have more time. I don't want to compare the TTPFL to other leagues across the world based on what has been done. You would want leagues to let clubs know six months before the start date and even the fixtures. Prospective sponsors and partners and so on need official documentation to work with their accounting department, bankers and auditors in that process."
Heading into the second TTPFL season, De Four says the league is on an upward trajectory.
"The League is a work in progress. One of the main factors in the league has been funding. I think they are in the process of attempting to resolve it," De Four said.
"This is the second season and there has been progress because there is a lot more data collection up front. The league is collecting a lot of data and moving it around so people can now understand what is happening much more clearly financially and so on. I think it's a step forward."
On the field of play last season, the Eagles finished four points behind the 11th-placed Prisons FC team and a staggering 48 points behind eventual TTPFL champions Defence Force. Starting on November 24, Eagles will hope to take some forward steps of their own and take flight when they meet Police FC in their first game of the season.
"On field preparations are partly with the administration – TT Football Association – and the clubs. The club is training and doing what they can, but the registration window has just opened. The registration process has begun and I'll say things are going smoothly until further notice. We will be ready God's spare life to start on November 24 and we hope everything else will be ready."
On Friday, the TTPFL will host an award ceremony for the inaugural season at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre. This event will also serve as a soft launch for the upcoming season.
SOURCE: T&T Newsday
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