March 28, 2024, 11:08:30 AM

Author Topic: 2019/20 T&T Pro League Thread  (Read 29929 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #30 on: February 07, 2019, 04:45:00 PM »
So what happens when a pro-team ends up last. Does it still stay up? Demoted? I also think the FA trophy winners should get a shot to play in the CFU club championships.

Offline Tiresais

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2817
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #31 on: February 08, 2019, 01:39:47 AM »
Promotion/relegation is just generally a good thing for me, but the real sustainability will come when clubs are able to get gate receipts, sponsorship and merchandise from working in and with their local community. Ultimately it will allow better run clubs to get promoted while the worse ones get relegated. 50k isn't much to get the ball running on decades of under-investment, but some of the clubs are partly to blame for living off the tax payer for so long with so little in return.

Offline Rastaman

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2271
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #32 on: February 08, 2019, 08:00:12 AM »
If clubs get the $50,000 subvention a month and the league runs for 8 months a club gets
$400,000
How many clubs get this ?? Maybe 8 clubs

So if 20 clubs now in a position to get US $50,000 or TT $350,000......is that not better for our football

Just asking

Think about it.....If Pheonix, Bethel or Youth Stars got that kind of money
Sorry we don't want all that money to go to Tobago

Offline amielisadore

  • Sr. Warrior
  • ****
  • Posts: 351
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #33 on: February 08, 2019, 09:39:16 AM »
If clubs get the $50,000 subvention a month and the league runs for 8 months a club gets
$400,000
How many clubs get this ?? Maybe 8 clubs

So if 20 clubs now in a position to get US $50,000 or TT $350,000......is that not better for our football

Just asking

Think about it.....If Pheonix, Bethel or Youth Stars got that kind of money
Sorry we don't want all that money to go to Tobago

This is the UEFA proposal - https://wired868.com/2019/01/29/the-real-source-of-the-us2-million-windfall-for-pro-league-and-ttsl-plus-what-clubs-stand-to-make/

The TTFA’s foreign guests proposed a more progressive split of money for 2019, which sees all 10 Pro League clubs—inclusive of Defence Force and Police FC—collect US$50,000  (TT$338,000) for the year and US$10,000 (TT$67,000) each for the 12 TTSL teams for that same period. The combined guaranteed payout to clubs in both divisions is US$620,000 (TT$4.2 million).

Ultimately, the two leagues will determine how many clubs get to feed from the trough; and the Pro League generally denies subventions to Defence Force and Police on the grounds that they already enjoy state funding.

“We have not decided yet [the number of teams in the Pro League],” said Pongracz, “because the more teams you play, the more you have to share and the less a club gets. So you have to decide.”

There will also be performance-based incentives. The top five Pro League clubs will bank US$50,000 (TT$338,000), US$40,000 (TT$271,000), US$30,000 ($203,000), US$10,000 (TT$67,000) and US$5,000 (TT$34,000) respectively.

In the TTSL, the top six teams stand to pocket prize money of US$20,000 (TT$135,000), US$15,000 (TT$101,000), US$10,000 (TT$67,000), US$5,000 (TT$34,000), US$3,000 (TT$20,000) and US$2,000 (TT$13,000) respectively.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #34 on: February 26, 2019, 01:33:24 AM »
Ex-Pro League boss calls on Awai to apologise.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).


FORMER TT Pro League chairman Sam Phillip wants a public apology from director of football at North East Stars Michael Awai, after he said Phillip and president of the TT Super League Keith Look Loy were appointed illegally.

In a T&T Guardian article yesterday, Awai said Phillip and Look Loy were illegally made members of the TT Football Association (TTFA) board at a reconvened Annual General Meeting on December 23, 2017. Awai claims Phillip and Look Loy were illegally made members of the board as decisions relating to appointments or dismissals of officers could not have been made according to Article 24, paragraph 3(Quorum of the General Meeting) of the TTFA constitution.

Awai said there needed to be a quorum at the reconvened meeting for officers to be elected.

The former Pro League chairman said, Awai is misinformed saying only in a first meeting is a quorum mandatory. “The first meeting (there needs to be a quorom), but once we reconvene you don’t need a quorom.” Phillip said in a first meeting involving the TTFA a quorum is 50 per cent plus one.

He said even if there needed to be a quorum at the reconvened meeting there was more than half of the 49-member TTFA present at the reconvened meeting.

Phillip wants an apology from Awai. “I am asking Mr Awai to correct that statement publicly, apologise to Mr Look Loy and myself by correcting that statement – he is wrong. He (Awai) is misleading the football public.”

Phillip was upset Awai was bringing his name into disrepute. “I want to remind Mr Awai – you see that word illegally – I don’t involve myself in anything illegal.”

The former TT Pro League chairman said Awai should do something for TT football. “The word illegal is a strong word and I don’t believe in illegal business in no way and I want to clear up that. I want to ask Mr Awai what has he done for football in the last ten years?”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Tiresais

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2817
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #35 on: February 26, 2019, 01:01:03 PM »
Good luck finding accountability in T&T football

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #36 on: March 04, 2019, 01:13:21 AM »
Awai: I said unconstitutional, not illegal
By Andrew Gioannetti & Joel Bailey (Newsday).


NORTH East Stars director of football Michael Awai says he was misrepresented in a recent newspaper article, which quoted him as saying the appointments of Keith Look Loy and Sam Phillip as members of the TT Football Association (TTFA) board of directors were done illegally.

On February 21, the Trinidad Guardian published an article, which read, "Michael Awai, Di­rec­tor of Foot­ball at TT Pro League cam­paign­ers North East Stars believes Kei­th Look Loy, Pres­i­dent of the TT Su­per League was il­le­gal­ly ap­point­ed as a mem­ber of the Board of Di­rec­tors of the TT Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion.

"The out­spo­ken Awai, equipped with a copy of the TTFA con­sti­tu­tion point­ed to the min­utes of De­cem­ber 23, 2017, re­con­vened An­nu­al Gen­er­al Meet­ing (AGM) at the of­fice of the Na­tion­al Cy­cling Cen­tre (NCC) in Bal­main, Cou­va, at which Look Loy and Sam Phillip, the for­mer TT Pro League chair­man was ap­point­ed to the Board."

Since the publication of the article, Phillip called on Awai to apologise for the accusations made in the article and to correct that.

Phillip said, “I am asking Mr Awai to correct that statement publicly, apologise to Mr Look Loy and myself by correcting that statement. He is wrong. He is misleading the football public. I want to remind Mr Awai – you see that word illegally – I don’t involve myself in anything illegal.”

Phillip said Saturday he intends to sue Awai for defamation since he failed to apologise in a timely manner.

Awai was reached by Newsday yesterday and said his comments to the Guardian reporter were misconstrued. Awai said he was not contacted by the reporter for direct comments but was quoted solely from an e-mail, in which the word "illegal" was never used. Awai said he had e-mailed the newspaper asking for the information to be corrected "so that the proper context would be established going forward."

He said yesterday, "I was just asking questions (in the e-mail). If what I said was incorrect, then fine." Awai provided Newsday a copy of the original e-mail from which he was quoted.

In the e-mail to football stakeholders, Awai wrote: "I have had the opportunity to review the minutes of the reconvened AGM of the TTFA of 23rd December 2017 held at the National Cycling Velodrome in Balmain Couva. I wish to point you to several items which will reveal that certain actions and decisions taken at that meeting were ultra-virus (sic) and unconstitutional."

He challenged decisions made at a reconvened TTFA meeting, wrongly citing a lack of quorum for his interpretation of the supposed breach. He, however, did not explicitly say "illegal" in the email provided.

"I'm just asking questions," he said.

In response to Phillip's threat of a lawsuit, Awai said, "Well he can sue if he wants, but I know what I said and the documents are there."

Phillip, during a telephone interview on Saturday, said, “In life you have a minimum of two choices, either you do something or you don’t do it. I’m using my second choice of option.

“I first asked Mr Awai to apologise and, up till this time, he has not done so. I responded within 24 hours after his article. I’m using my second option which is to seek legal advice on this matter.

Phillip said he held talks with his lawyers and will be seeking legal action this week.

He added, “I also noticed that the TTFA (TT Football Association) has been silent on this issue, moreso the vice-president Mr Ewing Davis who had chaired that meeting.”

Asked if he will give Awai more time to apologise, Phillip replied, “I’m not giving him any more time. I’m seeking legal advice at this time to proceed with a legal matter of defamation of character.”

The former Joe Public FC manager said, “Over the last four decades, in my tenure of employment, my character was never questioned. I have worked in a number of sensitive areas (in security). My character has never been blemished. Nobody has ever asked me to resign. If I did resign, it was on my own will.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #37 on: March 04, 2019, 06:45:14 AM »
playing with words!

Offline asylumseeker

  • Moderator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18073
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #38 on: March 10, 2019, 07:56:57 AM »
Up, up and away, yes?

On the basis of what has been reported, it seems frightfully irresponsible to have announced bringing Cunupia into the league and then now to announce that they will not be part of the league because of the UEFA consultation (which was not unanticipated and which was targeted precisely to exploring structural/operating considerations within the PL). Let no one forget this was not the consultants first visit.

Yuh know what silly asylumseeker would have done? He would have vigorously suggested incorporating Cunupia FC into the dialogue as a partner with a stake in the outcome and have them 'incentivized' as an active participant.

Unnecessarily ... this leaves the league open to questions and challenges.

Hopefully what was agreed contemplated discretion by the Pro League to change course regarding Cunupia's admission.

However, comments suggest that there was/is a lack of clarity regarding whether Cunupia would be included in receiving subvention from the GoTT ... given the history of the league, that seems to be a component that one would expect to have been defined at the time of deciding on admission to the Pro League.

Overall these initial public comments suggest a loosely constructed agreement or understanding.

Time to tidy things up

« Last Edit: March 10, 2019, 07:59:27 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline Tiresais

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2817
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #39 on: March 11, 2019, 01:46:53 AM »
If only there was some tried-and-tested way of having new clubs enter the league, perhaps being replaced by a team that hadn't performed well across the whole season. Oh well, let the bacchanal continue.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #40 on: April 05, 2019, 12:44:10 AM »
Gillette is Football chairman.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


Busi­ness­man Lyn­d­say Gillette was vot­ed chair­man of the foot­ball com­mis­sion to steer T&T foot­ball in­to a new era. The com­mis­sion was set up on the ad­vice of FI­FA/CON­CA­CAF/UE­FA of­fi­cials who vis­it­ed T&T to give rec­om­men­da­tions on ways to im­prove the sport. One of the rec­om­men­da­tions was to have a sin­gle man­age­ment team from the su­per league, pro league and TTFA to over­see the man­age­ment op­er­a­tions of a tier one and tier two foot­ball com­pe­ti­tions.

The vote was tak­en at a re­cent meet­ing held among the mem­bers com­pris­ing two rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the T&T Pro League, two from the T&T Su­per League, two in­de­pen­dents and a rep­re­sen­ta­tive from the T&T Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion, in Port-of-Spain.

Tony Har­ford of All Sports Pro­mo­tions was the last in­de­pen­dent pick for the Com­mis­sion, join­ing Gillette, the cur­rent pres­i­dent of T&T Am­a­teur Swim­ming As­so­ci­a­tion is al­so an in­de­pen­dent.

The oth­er Com­mis­sion mem­bers are Kei­th Look Loy and George Joseph of the TTSL, Brent San­cho of Cen­tral FC and Ja­mal Shabazz of Mor­vant Cale­do­nia pro clubs as the two pro league rep­re­sen­ta­tives while An­tho­ny Moore of the To­ba­go FA will be the TTFA rep­re­sen­ta­tives.

An ear­li­er re­port stat­ed in this news­pa­pers had stat­ed that Shel­don Phillips, the sacked TTFA gen­er­al sec­re­tary, was tipped to be one of the in­de­pen­dent rep­re­sen­ta­tives and that he was in line to be­come the chair­man, but Phillips was on­ly a con­sid­er­a­tion.

How­ev­er, it is un­der­stood that the com­mis­sion has made tremen­dous progress to date, as it is in the process of for­mu­lat­ing a Mem­o­ran­dum of Un­der­stand­ing among the par­ties in­volved.

San­cho told Guardian Me­dia Lim­it­ed that the meet­ings have been fruit­ful as every­one is fo­cused on cre­at­ing the best foot­ball prod­uct from the merg­ing of the pro league, su­per league and TTFA.

San­cho is al­so call­ing for sug­ges­tions for the name of the new league/leagues, al­though one has al­ready been giv­en to them.

Mean­while, the re­main­der of the T&T Youth Pro League will be ded­i­cat­ed in ho­n­our of Richard Fakoory, a mem­ber of the Board of the T&T Pro League re­vealed yes­ter­day, a day af­ter a meet­ing.

Fakoory, who was chair­man of the T&T Pro League, died last week Wednes­day from an aneurysm which came af­ter he had a mi­nor surgery to fix a block­age in his ab­domen at the West­shore Med­ical Hos­pi­tal in Co­corite.

The mem­bers of the pro league were search­ing for a suit­able way to ho­n­our him for the work he has done over the past 40 years, but on Wednes­day at a pro league meet­ing in Port-of-Spain, it was agreed to ded­i­cate the rest of the youth pro league in his ho­n­our, at least in the short term, the mem­ber said.

The mem­ber, who is a mem­ber of the pro league board, said fur­ther dis­cus­sions will take place to find a suit­able way to ho­n­our Fakoory in the long term.

So far it has been agreed that all the tro­phies will be named af­ter him, apart from the youth league be­ing ded­i­cat­ed to him. This he said was agreed up­on unan­i­mous­ly as the St Ann's Rangers founder and di­rec­tor had com­mit­ted his en­tire life to­ward youth de­vel­op­ment.

"Richard was a stick­ler for youth de­vel­op­ment. He tru­ly want­ed to help the young peo­ple of T&T through sports, so we felt it would have been ap­pro­pri­ate to take this step," the mem­ber said. The meet­ing was al­so held to up­date its mem­bers on what was hap­pen­ing, and to be­gin dis­cus­sions for a new chair­man.


The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #41 on: July 07, 2019, 06:11:41 AM »
‘It’s part-time footballers vs professionals!’ Lawrence talks Gold Cup, Pro League… and Peltier.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach Dennis Lawrence pointed to the issues plaguing the Pro League as one possible cause for the Soca Warriors’ woeful form during his tenure.

Lawrence, whose team finished bottom of Group D at the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup between the United States, Panama and Guyana, identified 2016 as the beginning of a downturn in Trinidad and Tobago’s football fortunes.

(Results tabulated as won-draw-lost-goals for-goals against)

Warriors in 2014 (9 int’nal 5-2-2 16 [F]-10 [A]):
Warriors in 2015 (12 int’nal 4-4-4 18 [F]-15 [A]):
Warriors in 2016 (15 int’nal 4-2-9 25 [F]-31 [A]):
Warriors in 2017 (16 int’nal 3-3-10 19 [F]-30 [A]):
Warriors in 2018 (6 int’nal 2-1-3 3 [F]-3 [A]):
Warriors in 2019 (6 int’nal 0-2-4 1 [F]-12 [A]):

He suggested that the reason was not so much the head coach as it was the start of the local game.

“We go to the year 2016 and I think that is when the government subvention was pulled and we start to look at the clubs starting to struggle [and] the league period getting shorter,” said Lawrence, at a press conference at the Cycling Velodrome this morning. “[…] In 2017, late subvention, then we go to 2018 and we got the same situation. Then we go to 2019, there is no league at the moment [and] I can’t even tell you when the league is going to start…

“Is it coincidence that our Pro League is suffering and our national teams’ results have started to suffer because of this? My opinion is 100 percent.”

Incidentally, the issues affecting the Pro League was not the only change to the local football ecosystem in 2016. Current Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams was elected on 30 November 2015 and 2016 was his first full year at the helm.

Notably, Trinidad and Tobago’s football results have significantly worsened at the youth and women’s level too and neither are connected in any way to the government’s Pro League subvention.

Today, Lawrence—and not John-Williams—was the man in the hot seat and, unlike the football president, he at least faced the media.

During his two and a half years in charge of the Warriors, Lawrence has played 11 competitive matches and returned two wins, one draw and eight defeats with seven goals scored and 23 conceded. His national team set a record for longest losing streak (7), most games without scoring (7) and largest loss at a Gold Cup (6-0 against USA).

How could he defend such results?

Lawrence pointed to the scarce resources available to Trinidad and Tobago when compared to other Concacaf nations. He noted that domestic players in United States play for nine or 10 months in the year while the Pro League now runs for roughly four.

“Our players are not playing enough football,” said Lawrence. “Basically you are talking about part-time footballers versus professional footballers. If we are all being honest and realistic with ourselves, we know what is going to be the outcome in the majority of the cases.

“So what you find happens in the majority of cases is we may be able to put in a performance but what we suffer with is putting consistent performances together.”

In fact, Lawrence did not use a single Pro League player against the United States. All 13 of the Warriors used in that fixture play abroad with eight actually earning a living in the US leagues.

Ironically, Lawrence had only three Warriors in the US top flight competition, the Major League Soccer (MLS). All three, Kevin Molino, Joevin Jones and Greg Ranjitsingh, were on the bench that day.

By the end of the competition, Jones, a two-time MLS champion, had not started a single match while Ranjitsingh never got on to the field. Jones has failed to start in any of his last five competitive matches for the Warriors—a run which dates as far back as October 2017.

“At the end of the day as the head coach, I work with the players and I ask certain things of them,” said Lawrence, when pressed on his use of Jones, “and I then have to make a decision based on what I think is best for the team. And at that moment in time, I felt the players who started the games were the ones who deserved to start.”

The Pro League’s woes aside, Lawrence admitted that the team’s results were below his own expectations.

“If we had managed to put in the performances we did against Thailand, Iran, Japan, Wales, then maybe we would have gotten further,” said Lawrence, notwithstanding the fact that the Warriors lost three of the games he referenced and drew the other. “[…] I didn’t think that we were going to perform in that manner in the Gold Cup. I genuinely had a good feeling […] that we would have done better as a group.

“But obviously we went into the Gold Cup facing several challenges, which I think some of them took a toll on the group.”

Lawrence complained about their failure to secure US visas, which he said denied him the chance to take playmaker Ataulla Guerra and forward Marcus Joseph to the Gold Cup.

He denied that it was a shortcoming on the part of his own technical staff or the TTFA.

“It can’t be a lack of planning [on our side] when you have Aubrey David and Ataulla Guerra, for example, who applied for their US visas since March,” he said. “For us to get to June and they still hadn’t gotten hold of it—I don’t think Ataulla has even gotten his visa at the moment. So it definitely wasn’t a lack of planning.”

Then there was a friendly against Canada, a week before their opener against Panama, in which Lawrence hoped to use all 23 players but was eventually restricted to six substitutes.

He even pointed to the social media furore around a player he did not name—but would certainly be Saudi Arabia-based attacker Lester Peltier—which also caused a stir in the camp.

A person who appeared to be Peltier was photographed holding a male genitalia belonging to someone not shown in the image. And the image went viral just before Trinidad and Tobago’s opening Gold Cup game.

“Was it a distraction?” asked Lawrence. “For those of you who saw what I saw, it was definitely a distraction… You don’t go in a football camp and expect to be dealing with things like that; but at the end of the day […] my concern was more for the player.

“I was looking to see how it would affect the individual and by extension the group… The player obviously expressed his disappointment about what was taking place and how it affected him and we had to try and put some energy and life into the boy and let him know we are here supporting [him].”

Peltier, Lawrence said, insisted that he was misrepresented and has vowed to take legal action.

Was there anything Lawrence felt he could have done better as head coach at the Gold Cup?

“Of course! You always look at yourself and you find things that you could have done better,” said Lawrence. “[You ask yourself] did I do too much the day before, was it the right game plan tactically, was it the right starting eleven.

“Against USA, I told the players that I take responsibility for the first goal scored because Kevin Molino should not have been caught in a position on the back stick having to defend a six foot plus defender… But in football that is what happens and sometimes a player has to take responsibility.”

Lawrence did not give any more concrete examples of things he might have done differently or why he was culpable for Molino’s placement at that vital moment.

He accepted that the team had struggled creatively and lamented the fact that, while trying to address their offensive shortcomings, they began to leak goals as well.

“When you try to correct one, then something else goes wrong,” he said.

Lawrence said he took the criticism from supporters on the chin, as part of his job.

“When you get negative results you expect to be criticised, you expect to be analysed, you expect to be questioned,” said Lawrence. “You as an individual have to believe in yourself… I felt like I’ve lost a battle but I have definitely not lost a war because I’ve got a lot in my tank still—trust me.”

He rounded on at least one critic, though. Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) president and TTFA board member Keith Look Loy could not find room for Lawrence on his all-conquering Malick Secondary football team, almost 30 years ago, and was apparently unconvinced at the potential of the gangly player.

Lawrence, who went on to score the goal that took Trinidad and Tobago to the 2006 World Cup, still has not forgiven Look Loy for the slight; and there is clearly no love lost between them.

“If I took his advice I wouldn’t be sitting where I am today,” said Lawrence. “Why? When I was 15 years old, that’s the same guy who said I wouldn’t make it in football. I didn’t take his advice then. I continued to keep going.

“Look at 1998, he got beaten 8-0 [with Joe Public] against DC United. He didn’t resign. You know what he did? He got promoted. He then went on to manage our national junior team.

“In 1999, in three consecutive games he got beat by six goals. He didn’t resign. You know what he did? He got promoted again as the National Senior Team assistant. He didn’t resign then.

“He got appointed as the national technical director and he then appointed a german coach [Otto Pfister] and paid him US$50,000 a month and when questioned he said it was chump change. We all knew what happened then. He didn’t even get to the Hex. He didn’t resign…”

It was, of course, selectively picking from Look Loy’s career as a coach and an administrator. In the massive losses with Joe Public and the National Under-17 Team, Look Loy had one week on the job in the first case and two in the second after Muhammad Isa was sacked by then Public owner and TTFF special advisor Jack Warner on both occasions.

Look Loy did resign as National Senior Team assistant after one game under head coach Zoran Vranes, who was sacked after a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica. And he was one member of a selection committee that hired not only Otto Pfister but Even Pellerud, Angus Eve and Shawn Cooper, who were certainly more successful than the German.

Bertille St Clair, Trinidad and Tobago’s most successful coach, had not always been convinced by Lawrence either and the former soldier appeared to have been a late bloomer. Look Loy, for his part, claimed he told Lawrence that he could not make the Malick first team—not that he could not make it as a footballer.

The main point that Lawrence wanted to impart, though, is he believes he is the right person to fix the problem.

“When I assess the games, we have to manage the football better,” he said, as he pointed to goals conceded based on squandering possession against Panama and Guyana. “We have to improve in that aspect of the game.”

Lawrence is looking forward to the Nations League in September and, although he stopped short of promising a revamp, he said talented young players like Keston Julien and Noah Powder are on his radar.

He is hopeful that the Ascension Invitational Tournament, which is due to start on 12 July, will help the match fitness of the local-based players, who he feels should be the core of the national team.

“I would like to be able to select from a bigger pool of players in regards to our local players,” said Lawrence. “[…] If we can get our league in Trinidad to be up and running for nine months like it used to be, it would help.

“[…] In my opinion, your national programme is as strong as your leagues; and right at this moment we don’t have an existing league. We are the only country to take part [in the Gold Cup] that doesn’t have an existing league.”

There is still no start date in sight for the T-League, which is chaired by Lindsay Gillette and an amalgam of the Pro League and TTSL and falls under the direct supervision of the TTFA.

The Ascension competition, which is the brainchild of Terminix director Richard Ferguson, will feature two divisions with six Pro League teams and as many TTSL teams in the top flight.

W Connection, North East Stars, Central FC and Point Fortin Civic are not involved.

Lawrence insisted that he was not using domestic football issues as an excuse for his own stewardship. But it was a point that he returned to often today.

“We went to the Gold Cup and I have lost a battle and it was hurtful,” said Lawrence, “but then I definitely haven’t lost a war. I am not saying I have all the answers but I am definitely seeing how things can improve.

“2016, please, do your research. Look at the [link between] when the Pro League started to suffer and then ask yourself the question: is there any connection between why football in Trinidad and Tobago, at this moment in time, is finding difficulty?

“I will leave you to come up with your own answer.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #42 on: July 10, 2019, 12:46:34 AM »
Note: T-League, which, be­cause of the in­volve­ment of UE­FA and FI­FA, will re­place the T&T Pro League as the coun­try’s tier 1 com­pe­ti­tion.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #43 on: August 21, 2019, 12:21:14 AM »
Pro League gets $3M sponsor, T-League in trouble.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


A US$500,000 spon­sor­ship is set to put a new­ly-re­brand­ed T&T Pro League on track soon, a source close to the League has re­vealed on Tues­day.

Guardian Me­dia Sports was re­li­ably in­formed that the new­found spon­sor­ship, from a lo­cal or­ga­ni­za­tion, could lead to the aban­don­ment of the UE­FA/FI­FA-pro­posed T-League which has strug­gled to get the fund­ing from the Min­istry of Sports and Youth Af­fairs and the FI­FA For­ward Project.

It is un­cer­tain why monies from the Min­istry of Sports have not been forth­com­ing af­ter min­is­ter Sham­fa Cud­joe made it clear ap­proval has al­ready been giv­en for its re­lease to clubs.

Ac­cord­ing to the source, a meet­ing of the pro league clubs will be held to­day at 10 am at the of­fice of the Home of Foot­ball in Bal­main Cou­va, to de­cide if the pro league will pro­ceed on its own with some of the ini­tia­tives of the UE­FA and FI­FA.

The meet­ing will al­so seek to de­cide on the prize struc­ture for the pro league, a new name for the league, the for­mat and a start­ing date.

If the Pro League gets go­ing, then a call will be made by pro league clubs for the aban­don­ment of the foot­ball com­mis­sion, which was cre­at­ed to steer T&T foot­ball in­to the new era of the T-League.

Ac­cord­ing to the source, the ma­jor­i­ty of the clubs are in favour of the Pro League go­ing it alone. They al­so be­lieve the time has come for the pro league to have its own sec­ond di­vi­sion tour­na­ment, which could fit in­to the as­pi­ra­tions of the UE­FA and FI­FA rec­om­men­da­tions high­light­ed in the T-League.

Last week this news­pa­pers re­port­ed re­cent­ly that the T&T Su­per League clubs were lob­by­ing the or­gan­is­ers of the As­cen­sion In­vi­ta­tion­al Foot­ball League to play a sec­ond round of com­pe­ti­tion, as stat­ed by the spon­sors of the League at its launch two months ago.

How­ev­er, the source ex­plained that clubs are against this re­quest, as they be­lieve it was be­ing done by a group with an agen­da to desta­bi­lize the sport be­cause of its de­sire to seek gov­er­nance of the sport lat­er on this year.

"There is a heavy dis­trust for su­per league clubs and its chair­man Kei­th Look Loy be­cause of a per­ceived agen­da ahead of the T&T Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion Elec­tions in No­vem­ber. If this group gets its way, then its mem­bers will make TTFA pres­i­dent David John-Williams and na­tion­al coach Den­nis Lawrence look bad, for them to look like sav­iours of lo­cal foot­ball," the source said.

The source la­belled the As­cen­sion league as a glo­ri­fied Mi­nor League, de­signed for Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers to win, say­ing the La Hor­quet­ta based club which took over the fran­chise of St Ann's Rangers just over a year ago, is the on­ly club that will play all its match­es at home.

From the 10 pro league clubs, Guardian Me­dia Sports un­der­stand that on­ly one team- Club San­do, has come out in sup­port of an ex­tend­ed round to the As­cen­sion League. How­ev­er, pro league clubs have al­ready dis­cussed among them­selves, that su­per league con­tenders Cunu­pia FC will be an ad­e­quate re­place­ment for Club San­do in the Pro League.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline asylumseeker

  • Moderator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18073
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #44 on: August 21, 2019, 01:13:04 AM »
Shamfa, your obligation as Minister is to insist on the consolidation of the T-league or to withhold the subvention.

Proper public policy and the public interest supersede short-term self-interested determinations that do not mesh with the medium to longer-term viability of first-class and professional football in Trinidad and Tobago.

If the Pro League "brain trust" are willing to sacrifice vision, and confound common sense, informed by clutching at $500,000 US, view this as a first step in weaning them off the public teat.

And, by the way, it is not the role of the Pro League to act as a proxy for the perceived political preservation of a TTFA president or to act as a buffer to protect the job security and image of the national team coach.

If indeed it is, the operational architecture of football is both poorly designed for success and sustainability and artificially girded with protections against conflicts of interest.

That being the case, we should, all declare 'lost ball' and go home, or, end the small goal football that is "charading" as as a big objective project.

Grant the subvention under these circumstances if your Government is willing to have a legacy of coronating the TTFA president and endorsing ill-informed decisional destinations.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2019, 09:10:02 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #45 on: August 21, 2019, 07:03:46 AM »
You want her to disburse the funds or not?

Offline Rastaman

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2271
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #46 on: August 21, 2019, 08:11:34 AM »
I think he is saying not to grant the subvention under the condition that the PRO League takes the US$500 and separate themselves from the T-League.

Offline asylumseeker

  • Moderator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18073
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #47 on: August 21, 2019, 09:35:58 AM »
Pro League gets $3M sponsor, T-League in trouble.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


A US$500,000 spon­sor­ship is set to put a new­ly-re­brand­ed T&T Pro League on track soon, a source close to the League has re­vealed on Tues­day.

Guardian Me­dia Sports was re­li­ably in­formed that the new­found spon­sor­ship, from a lo­cal or­ga­ni­za­tion, could lead to the aban­don­ment of the UE­FA/FI­FA-pro­posed T-League which has strug­gled to get the fund­ing from the Min­istry of Sports and Youth Af­fairs and the FI­FA For­ward Project.

It is un­cer­tain why monies from the Min­istry of Sports have not been forth­com­ing af­ter min­is­ter Sham­fa Cud­joe made it clear ap­proval has al­ready been giv­en for its re­lease to clubs.

Ac­cord­ing to the source, a meet­ing of the pro league clubs will be held to­day at 10 am at the of­fice of the Home of Foot­ball in Bal­main Cou­va, to de­cide if the pro league will pro­ceed on its own with some of the ini­tia­tives of the UE­FA and FI­FA.

The meet­ing will al­so seek to de­cide on the prize struc­ture for the pro league, a new name for the league, the for­mat and a start­ing date.

If the Pro League gets go­ing, then a call will be made by pro league clubs for the aban­don­ment of the foot­ball com­mis­sion, which was cre­at­ed to steer T&T foot­ball in­to the new era of the T-League.

Ac­cord­ing to the source, the ma­jor­i­ty of the clubs are in favour of the Pro League go­ing it alone. They al­so be­lieve the time has come for the pro league to have its own sec­ond di­vi­sion tour­na­ment, which could fit in­to the as­pi­ra­tions of the UE­FA and FI­FA rec­om­men­da­tions high­light­ed in the T-League.

Last week this news­pa­pers re­port­ed re­cent­ly that the T&T Su­per League clubs were lob­by­ing the or­gan­is­ers of the As­cen­sion In­vi­ta­tion­al Foot­ball League to play a sec­ond round of com­pe­ti­tion, as stat­ed by the spon­sors of the League at its launch two months ago.

How­ev­er, the source ex­plained that clubs are against this re­quest, as they be­lieve it was be­ing done by a group with an agen­da to desta­bi­lize the sport be­cause of its de­sire to seek gov­er­nance of the sport lat­er on this year.

"There is a heavy dis­trust for su­per league clubs and its chair­man Kei­th Look Loy be­cause of a per­ceived agen­da ahead of the T&T Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion Elec­tions in No­vem­ber. If this group gets its way, then its mem­bers will make TTFA pres­i­dent David John-Williams and na­tion­al coach Den­nis Lawrence look bad, for them to look like sav­iours of lo­cal foot­ball," the source said.

The source la­belled the As­cen­sion league as a glo­ri­fied Mi­nor League, de­signed for Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers to win, say­ing the La Hor­quet­ta based club which took over the fran­chise of St Ann's Rangers just over a year ago, is the on­ly club that will play all its match­es at home.

From the 10 pro league clubs, Guardian Me­dia Sports un­der­stand that on­ly one team- Club San­do, has come out in sup­port of an ex­tend­ed round to the As­cen­sion League. How­ev­er, pro league clubs have al­ready dis­cussed among them­selves, that su­per league con­tenders Cunu­pia FC will be an ad­e­quate re­place­ment for Club San­do in the Pro League.



The quality of the Ascension league is an entirely separate issue from whether it should enter a second round of play. The Ascension league is neither a panacea nor a threat. Try not to pretend that its influence extends beyond its restricted appeal.

None of the ingredients needed to save local football are to be found anywhere in this article.

A cult of personality won't save local football. Fearmongering won't save local football. Propaganda won't save local football. Protecting turf won't save local football. Casting good advice aside won't save local football. Nor will constructing buildings nor $500,000 US. Nor the government subvention.

What's more important dear Pro League? A Reserve League or a second division competition? Feeding a starving infant bread or water?

Destabilize the sport?  :rotfl: Is anyone paying attention? Dahis already a fait accompli. We are there!
« Last Edit: August 21, 2019, 04:11:57 PM by asylumseeker »

Offline soccerman

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 4659
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #48 on: August 21, 2019, 10:25:40 AM »
The way I see it, thanks to the Ascension league local footballers and some clubs got the opportunity to play in an organized league. It may be a pre-season league but it got the ball rolling when others still can't come together to agree on a league for top flight football. I thought the pro league was going to be the new T-league but it looks like they're going in two different directions, never a dull moment!

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #49 on: August 21, 2019, 03:21:49 PM »
I think he is saying not to grant the subvention under the condition that the PRO League takes the US$500 and separate themselves from the T-League.

Ok! Is this nightmare happening for truth?

Offline asylumseeker

  • Moderator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18073
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #50 on: August 21, 2019, 04:20:52 PM »
I think he is saying not to grant the subvention under the condition that the PRO League takes the US$500 and separate themselves from the T-League.

Ok! Is this nightmare happening for truth?

Hence the foreshadowing of this comment:

"The T&T Pro League brass are said to be seeking to identify ways in which to honor Richard Fakoory. Agreeing with him or not, one less than elaborate way to do so would be to honor Richard by recalling his voice in future discussions and by injecting his perspective into issues mooted for discussion. Richard Fakoory’s legacy merits at least that."

Offline asylumseeker

  • Moderator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18073
    • View Profile
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #51 on: August 21, 2019, 06:00:18 PM »
This is laughable stuff, particularly the second paragraph:

Quote
Were the Pro League teams ever serious about supporting the T-League? One club owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was always hesitant about throwing his lot in with the TTSL; and he thinks he was not alone.

“What do Super League clubs know about raising money and running professional football?” he asked. “We have been doing this for years but they don’t really believe in professional football. They want to drag us down to their level …”

https://wired868.com/2019/08/21/pro-league-and-ttsl-go-separate-ways-as-t-league-hopes-fade-guardian-3-million-claim-refuted/

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #52 on: August 22, 2019, 12:38:51 AM »
Pro League kicks off Oct 4.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


The Board of the T&T Pro League con­firmed at a meet­ing yes­ter­day, that there will be a 2019/2020 foot­ball sea­son, and 12 clubs, in­clu­sive of Club San­do, which ini­tial­ly sup­port­ed an ex­ten­sion of the As­cen­sion In­vi­ta­tion­al Foot­ball League, has agreed to play.

Fol­low­ing an ex­clu­sive Guardian re­port of a $3 mil­lion spon­sor­ship deal in Wednes­day's news­pa­pers, the pro league, club of­fi­cials and ad­min­is­tra­tors im­me­di­ate­ly be­gan putting things in place for a sched­uled Oc­to­ber 4 start.

The new­ly re­brand­ed pro league will fea­ture 12 teams in­stead of 10, as Cunu­pia FC and an­oth­er team, still to be con­firmed, have been added to the ros­ter.

Fol­low­ing a lengthy meet­ing at the Home of Foot­ball in Bal­main Cou­va, a state­ment is­sued by the Board of the Pro­League with the head­line 'Pro League Clubs Agree to Con­tin­ue Pro­fes­sion­al League' stat­ed: "Pro­fes­sion­al foot­ball will play and have a 2019/20 sea­son. As a board, we feel while all the forms of foot­ball are im­por­tant, the pro­fes­sion­al league is vi­tal to­wards the over­all so­cial and sport­ing de­vel­op­ment of T&T. The Board feels that play­ers, coach­es and ad­min­is­tra­tors should con­tin­ue work­ing as paid pro­fes­sion­als and we have an oblig­a­tion to pro­vide fans with a high-lev­el foot­ball."

It added, "All 10 pro­fes­sion­al clubs in­clud­ing Club San­do have agreed to play in the 2019/20 sea­son and two oth­er clubs have shown in­ter­est in join­ing. We re­main mem­bers of the T&TFA formed Com­mis­sion and while we await the out­come of the fu­ture of the Com­mis­sion, we will pro­ceed to or­ga­nize the T&T Pro League."

The re­lease con­tin­ued: "Con­cern­ing fund­ing, we are ex­plor­ing the use of promised Gov­ern­ment funds as well as in­ter­ests shown by en­ti­ties in the pri­vate sec­tor. Over the last 18 years, clubs, own­ers and spon­sors have col­lec­tive­ly in­vest­ed over 25 mil­lion dol­lars, in ad­di­tion to gov­ern­ment's sub­ven­tions in­to the Pro League by suc­ces­sive Gov­ern­ments of T&T. For­ward ever."

RELATED NEWS

Pro League set to resume.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).


Look Loy furious over no Super League as…

THE TT Pro League will be back in full swing with a 2019-2020 season, while there may be no Super League season, to the consternation of Super League president Keith Look Loy.

The Pro League board held an emergency board meeting yesterday morning and agreed that “professional football will play.”

According to a media release issued by the Pro League last evening, “We feel while all the forms of football are important, the professional league is vital towards the overall social and sporting development of Trinidad and Tobago.

“The Board feels that players, coaches and administrators should continue working as paid professionals and we have an obligation to provide fans with high level football,” the media release continued. “All ten professional clubs, including Club Sando, have agreed to play in the 2019-2020 season and two other clubs have shown interest in joining.”

This news comes a couple days after Richard Ferguson, director at Terminix La Horquetta Rangers and the brainchild of the Ascension Invitational Football Tournament (which will end in late September), agreed to continue the inaugural competition, if no league or TTFA (TT Football Association)-sanctioned tournament was taking place.

In fact, at least 14 Super League clubs issued a letter to the TTFA general secretary Camara David on Sunday, calling for a second round of the Ascension Tournament, if the T League (combination of Pro League and Super League) remained in limbo.

With no confirmation about the proposed T League, the Pro League media release noted, “We will proceed to organise (the forthcoming season).

“With regard to funding, we are exploring use of promised Government funds as well as interest shown by entities in the private sector,” the release continued. “Over the last 18 years clubs, owners and sponsors have collectively invested over $25 million, in addition to subventions injected into the Pro League by successive Governments.”

Member of the T League commission and interim Pro League chairman Brent Sancho, in a Whatsapp message last evening, said, “We are hoping the T League does come on stream but we also have to put things in place for football to be played.”

Regarding the Pro League, the Central FC owner noted, “The owners are committed, despite challenges, to play professional football and October 4th has always been the date we have circled.”

Look Loy, who is also a TTFA director and owner of FC Santa Rosa, commented via Whatsapp, “(The Super League) have shown our commitment to one league united by promotion and relegation. It is the Pro League clubs that have unilaterally withdrawn from the MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) that was signed by the two leagues and the TTFA.

“And then we were insulted by statements to the effect that we don’t know how to raise money and how to run our clubs,” he continued. “As if (the) members of (the Pro) League can’t begin this year unless they receive (the) said money.”

And Look Loy has blamed the TTFA, led by David John-Williams, for this turn of events.

“Let not the fact that John-Williams and his band are (involved in) this and responsible for undermining (the) Super League 2019 season.”

« Last Edit: August 23, 2019, 12:40:45 AM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Tiresais

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2817
    • View Profile
Re: 2019/20 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #53 on: August 22, 2019, 05:25:54 AM »
What a shitstorm. At least the league is being played, but seriously what is going on? Why won't they sponsor a combined league? Wouldn't surprise me if the money comes from someone linked to our glorious leader.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019/20 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #54 on: August 24, 2019, 02:52:18 PM »
Look Loy dismayed over Pro League move.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).


PRESIDENT of the TT Super League, Keith Look Loy, is dismayed over the move by the Pro League to start their 2019-2020 season, hence cancelling any hopes for the inaugural T-League, which was supposed to be a combination of the Pro League and Super League.

On Wednesday, the Pro League decided to start the 2019-2020 season on October 4, since there seemed little hope that the T-League will get going this year.

And Look Loy is blaming both the TTFA (TT Football Association) and the Pro League for this latest move.

“The Super League is being victimised by the TTFA and the Pro League,” said Look Loy yesterday. “We have remained faithful to the idea of one league. The TTFA has failed to deliver on what it promised in the memorandum of agreement that we signed, and the Pro League has walked away from it without even consulting us.

“(The Pro League) has decided that they’re going to start their league,” he continued. “Where (interim Pro League chairman) Brent Sancho was saying that October 4 would have been the kick-off of T-League, it turns out now that they were talking about October 4 for the Pro League.”

The outspoken Look Loy, who is also a TTFA director, revealed he and the Super League board had doubts over the proposed T-League getting started this year.

“We are not surprised that this has turned out the way (it did),” he said. “Our advice to them, from the very start of the discussions, was that 2019 should be used to plan the 2020 launch of the T-League. They decided that they know better and we tried to make the best of it. As it turns out, we were right. It wasn’t possible to do it.”

Look Loy commented on the Super League’s agreement last Sunday for a continuation of the Ascension Invitational Tournament.

“We, recognising what was going on, passed a motion for another round of the Ascension League,” said Look Loy. “I always like to have a Plan B and C so we had already put in motion planning and budgeting for our own tournament to run from October to December.

“We are in the process of looking for a sponsor. We’re going to have a tournament for our clubs to keep them active till December.”

Reflecting on the failure of the T-League to get going, the Super League president said, “The TTFA never delivered on the monies that they were supposed to have and delivered on from FIFA Forward Programme and the Pro League has fallen short because the Minister of Sport is on record, more than once, saying that the monies are available but the Pro League clubs are not compliant. That is why I’m saying we feel tremendously victimised.”

Does he think that the T-League will ever come into fruition?

He replied, “For many years I have been articulating the need for one elite league. We cannot maintain the status quo of a stagnant pool of Pro League clubs that other clubs cannot (join), unless they want to pay exorbitant sums of money to enter a league that has a failed model. They cannot function without Government subsidy. We need to scrap that and come with something new. We have to go back to the drawing board.

“We have a (TTFA) election coming up in November and I am committing myself to pushing for one elite league under a new administration. It’s a matter of planning it properly.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019/20 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #55 on: August 25, 2019, 04:55:50 PM »
Shabazz: Pro League football is a must.
T&T Guardian Reports.


Pro­fes­sion­al foot­ball is here to stay, play­ers and coach­es must re­main paid pro­fes­sion­als and the T&T Pro League is to­tal­ly com­mit­ted to this re­al­i­ty.

This is the view of Mor­vant Cale­do­nia AIA own­er Ja­maal Shabazz yes­ter­day in a di­rect re­sponse to com­ments made by Su­per League chair­man Kei­th Look­loy in a di­rect fall­out since the Pro League’s de­ci­sion to go ahead with its league in­stead of en­sur­ing the T-League was launched this sea­son.

“The own­ers have demon­strat­ed a com­mit­ment to the na­tion’s youth and peo­ple like Jer­ry Hospedales, Dar­ryl Ma­habir (for­mer North East Stars own­er) and the de­ceased Richard Fakoory stand out for such a con­tri­bu­tion,” Shabazz said in a re­lease in de­fence of the Pro League’s de­ci­sion to run their own league un­til the UE­FA/FI­FA-pro­posed T-League gets off the ground. (See Page A41)

“Mr Look­loy did not con­sult the T&T Pro league when he de­cid­ed to ask for the As­cen­sion League to be ex­tend­ed by an­oth­er round. He has not told the pub­lic that the Su­per League in­tend­ed to run a one-round league if the ex­ten­sion of the As­cen­sion League was not grant­ed. So why must the Pro League con­sult Look Loy when it comes to run­ning our com­pe­ti­tion?”

Shabazz ac­cused Look Loy of try­ing to paint the Pro League in a neg­a­tive light, in­sist­ing the league had not left the com­mis­sion which set up to steer foot­ball for­ward to the T-League.

“The league re­mains a mem­ber of the com­mis­sion but just like the Su­per League feels that foot­ball needs to play, we in the Pro League are go­ing to walk that talk and play our League,” Shabazz said.

“We have in­ject­ed over 25 mil­lion dol­lars in­to the na­tion­al econ­o­my and pro­vid­ed em­ploy­ment for over 200 play­ers and coach­es. We see it as our right to con­tin­ue to cre­ate an en­vi­ron­ment where coach­es and play­ers can re­main full-time pro­fes­sion­als.”

Speak­ing on the role of the Pro League in T&T foot­ball, Shabazz cleared the air. “We are not the TTFA, our role is to fo­cus on pro­fes­sion­al foot­ball. It is through the Pro League we con­tribute to the na­tion­al foot­ball de­vel­op­ment.

“In years gone by we fed the na­tion­al teams with play­ers and coach­es. Mr Look Loy does not be­lieve in a Pro League and he has used so­cial me­dia to spew his ven­om against us. So we are very well aware of the per­son we’re deal­ing with here. He wants to curse us on so­cial me­dia in the night and pre­tend to be all lovey-dovey in the day.” Shabazz in­sist­ed that the Su­per League chair­man got his wires crossed.

“Pro League clubs have a re­spon­si­bil­i­ty to its play­ers, spon­sors and sup­port­ers who have re­mained loy­al to the con­cept of pro­fes­sion­al foot­ball. Mr Look Loy’s views on foot­ball are not di­vine rev­e­la­tion. His opin­ion is a nose. And the Pro League has its own nos­trils and we are en­ti­tled to breathe,” he said. “Mr Look­loy is get­ting his wires crossed, the es­tab­lish­ment of pro­fes­sion­al foot­ball and who wins the TTFA pres­i­den­cy are two sep­a­rate is­sues.

“We in the T&T Pro league have al­ways sought to keep the is­sues sep­a­rate. The same can­not be said for Mr Look Loy.”

Ac­cord­ing to Shabazz, the de­ci­sion made by the Pro League was done with each of the ten clubs giv­ing their views.

“This was no uni­lat­er­al de­ci­sion, all ten clubs agreed. And one of our mem­bers, Ed­die Dean (Club San­do), is on the Su­per League board and they, Club San­do, agreed as well. Pro League clubs have no ul­te­ri­or mo­tive, our de­ci­sion is based pure­ly on pro­tect­ing our in­vest­ment.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Online Tallman

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 25250
    • View Profile
Re: 2019/20 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #56 on: August 29, 2019, 02:10:36 PM »
WATCH: TTFA Press Conference on latest move for Professional Football in Trinidad and Tobago

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/-DGhyj43YEk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/-DGhyj43YEk</a>
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline maxg

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 6467
    • View Profile
Re: 2019/20 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #57 on: August 29, 2019, 04:30:00 PM »
 :puking: i not worried, cause football have a home, let football rest it head..structure, restructure, unstructure, restructure, structure, restructure...Blame Trump, yet killing Americans inside and out...wait, wrong topic..Blame the President, fk up the football inside and out...it's not fair to the President   :violin:

Tweak, Tweaky, Tweaky..De noise not stopping, De noise not stopping , I hearing ah noise ah like it, ah hearing ah noise it not stopping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00JbUupJY8o

 :laugh: :clown:

mr Browne doh...smh

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2019/20 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #58 on: August 31, 2019, 04:44:29 PM »
Did you pay your players? SPoRTT awaits payroll info before fresh pay out to Pro League clubs.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


Can you provide payroll information, salary slips and/or NIS information for your players for the 2018 TT Pro League season?

The TT Pro League’s eight clubs which receive government subventions, according to a source at the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT), have been asked to prove they paid their players last season if they are to receive any money this year.

The payroll information is believed to be the final hurdle for the TTPL, which already furnished SporTT with fixtures for its 2019/20 season that is due to kick off on 4 October.

The Pro League is in the second year of a three year deal with the government, which entitles clubs to a combined TT$4.8 million in 2018, TT$3.6 million in 2019 and TT$2.6 million in 2020.

Last season, Central FC, Club Sando, Morvant Caledonia AIA, North East Stars, Point Fortin Civic, San Juan Jabloteh, Terminix St Ann’s Rangers and W Connection collected TT$600,000 each from taxpayers.

For the 2018/19 season, the eight aforementioned clubs—although Rangers are now called Terminix La Horquetta Rangers—are due TT$450,000 each.

However, before they get a second payment, the Pro League clubs must account for how they used their first subvention. The request for transparency was said to be a stipulation made by deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Farook Hosein.

“The money came to the Ministry of Sport and then to the Sports Company to pay the clubs, as directed by Cabinet,” said the government official. “But while getting the money from the Ministry of Finance, the [deputy] Permanent Secretary would have asked for information on different issues related to the finance.

“We already went through the audited financials to see how they accounted for the money that was spent; but now the clubs have been asked to supply the payroll, salary slips and other relevant information to see if they match what they sent us.”

So far, four clubs have already submitted financial information with the others expected to follow suit before the end of the week.

Wired868 understands that Rangers, Jabloteh, W Connection and Club Sando are the teams who have already complied with the request. Among the clubs still due to submit financial data are Central FC, which is headed by former Minister of Sport and T-League Commission member Brent Sancho, and Morvant Caledonia AIA, whose technical director Jamaal Shabazz also represented the TTPL on the T-League Commission.

At present, Club Sando, Morvant Caledonia AIA, San Juan Jabloteh and La Horquetta Rangers are active in the ongoing Ascension Invitational Tournament, which is due to end on 21 September.

The Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) accounts for 18 of the 24 participants in the invitational competition and have formally requested a second round of the competition—a request that was forwarded to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), who must sanction any such extension.

However, the Pro League clubs want to go their own way from 4 October.

Central FC, North East Stars, Point Fortin Civic and W Connection are not involved in the Ascension tournament. The first three clubs missed the registration deadline—although entrance into the competition is free—while Connection declined the invitation.

At present, the 2019/20 Pro League season appears to hinge on member clubs making a proper account for their use of taxpayers’ money in 2018.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2019/20 T&T Pro League Thread
« Reply #59 on: September 01, 2019, 12:34:18 PM »
:puking: i not worried, cause football have a home, let football rest it head..structure, restructure, unstructure, restructure, structure, restructure...Blame Trump, yet killing Americans inside and out...wait, wrong topic..Blame the President, fk up the football inside and out...it's not fair to the President   :violin:

Tweak, Tweaky, Tweaky..De noise not stopping, De noise not stopping , I hearing ah noise ah like it, ah hearing ah noise it not stopping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00JbUupJY8o

 :laugh: :clown:

mr Browne doh...smh

DJW stated that the pro league and the super league are not members of TTFA, but the clubs are members. So, then both leagues are ipso facto illegal? Has TTFA given them the authority to run their own leagues. If not TTFA is really in no position to tell these 2 leagues what to do. Unless ..,.:. one of the club owners is the president of TTFA. Digest that.  I will be back again.

 

1]; } ?>