TUCKER, St James — Former Premier League champions, Montego Bay United (MBU), will be in the hunt for a new chief administrator and COO after top executive Sandra Christie left the Tucker- based club recently.

Acting chairman of the club, Bruce Gaynor, described Christie, who also managed the team, as “the warrior who led from the front”, adding that she would be missed.

He said, however, that the club cannot afford to miss a beat as they seek to return to the Premier League.

Montego Bay United were well positioned in the Western Confederation Super League before the club season was called off in May over concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gaynor told the Jamaica Observer West that “Sandra Christie came on board in 2011 and was asked to lead the secretariat as chief administrator. She went about her duties with diligence and was one of the influencing factors in the two MBU championships.”

“Come 2020, and Miss Christie, the mother to the players, the warrior who led from the front, has demitted her office as chief administrator and COO, we wish her all the best in her future endeavours and she will be truly missed.”

Montego Bay United, he said, would be pushing forward nonetheless.

“As leadership in the organisation changes it remains a strong and vibrant unit, one of the only truly professional club in the island, with the facility, human resources, history and the will to be successful at all times,” he argued.

He pointed out that MBU were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2018/2019 season but “remains strong and resolute in its will to play top-flight football.” “This ambitious move was placed on hold when the JFF [Jamaica Football Federation] cancelled the current season. The club awaits new direction from the powers that be and remains ready for the tasks ahead,” he told the Observer West.

Gaynor, who is one of the vital links in the former Seba United outfit that changed its name to Montego Bay United, described the club as “an institution with a strong history”, adding that since its formation in 1972 the path was laid out for success.

“Our emphasis in 1972 was to create a vehicle that will give the youths of varying communities especially the Paradise Row, North Gully and King Street areas an opportunity to display and expose their talents. Numerous football personalities blessed the club, the likes of Stephen ‘Zawbowl’ Thompson, Alton ‘Noah’ Sterling, Allan Latty, Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis, Hector Wright, and current National Senior Coach Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore.”

The strong leadership of the club, he said, was set out from the start from the late Dennis Barton and transitioned through various leaders such as Sonny Vassell and Orville Powell, the current owner of the club, but who has taken a back seat for the past two seasons.