After being sidelined since March 20, 2020, the Jamaica Premier League is set for a June 26 return and coaches of teams in the league have been greeting the news with optimism and hope.

The announcement of the resumption of the league was made by the Professional Football Jamaica Limited on Thursday, which gives the teams just over a month to prepare for the start of a shortened 2020-2021 season.

The league will be played over just one round, instead of the usual three rounds, to be followed by play-offs for both the top six and bottom six teams.

Andrew Price, head coach of Humble Lion FC, welcomed the news about the imminent resumption of the league.

“I am happy to hear that the season will restart on June 26. I think it is a bit close for the start, but that’s what has been approved by the JFF [Jamaica Football Federation] Competitions Committee. There are still a lot more details to be divulged that we haven’t gotten yet, but it’s really good that the players can get back on the field.

“They haven’t been able to earn anything since March 2020, so it’s a good opportunity to get them back on the field and also a good opportunity for some of them to try and impress the technical staff of the national senior programme to involve them in core group of players for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers for Qatar,” Price said.

While noting that the teams would have less than six weeks to get ready, Price said it was better to have some amount of football than none at all.

“It’s timely. Three months of football, we will take it over nothing; and, definitely, we anticipate a competitive season. We just want to hear more information so that we can get ourselves prepared and ready to go,” he noted.

Molynes United Head Coach Calvert Fitzgerald was also welcoming of the news and insisted that it was incumbent on the clubs to ensure that the season could be completed.

“It’s very welcome news. We have been waiting on this for so long, so we need to observe the guidelines the authorities put in place so we can complete the shortened season without any hiccups,” he said.

Donovan Duckie, the new head coach of Vere United, said the restart of the league was important for the players.

“The only thing I can tell you is that I am very happy for the players; they are the priority. There are multiple stakeholders in this business, but they are the most important stakeholders.

“So, I am very happy for the players, for them to return to training and to be back at a competitive level and to be able to earn for themselves and their families.”

The 2020-2021 final will be played on Sunday, September 26, to bring the curtains down on the shortened season.

— Dwayne Richards