‘Delivering more football’
Hill expecting significant growth as 2024-25 JPL season extended to 39 league games
WITH less than two weeks before the start of the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL), Professional Football Jamaica (PFJ) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Owen Hill says extending the season is crucial for accelerating the growth of football on the island.
The 2024-25 campaign, which kicks off on September 15, is set to be the longest season in the league’s history, with an increase to 39 match weeks in the regular season from the 26 played over the previous two seasons. The last time teams played close to 40 games in a single season was in the 2011-12 season when each of the 12 teams played 38 games.
This JPL season, which is the third of the 14-team format, sees the play-off format of quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final remain, meaning each club has the possibility of playing a maximum 44 games.
Hill says the decision was made after lengthy discussions with the clubs and Jamaica Football Federation.
“The conversation would have begun earlier this year about start time, and it’s from a purely football merit standpoint technically,” he told the
Jamaica Observer. “You want to have the teams playing more games, and with the window we’re looking at, it requires us to begin earlier.
“When we started the season later it was a combination of factors, including COVID-19. We saw [where] that worked for quite some time but there was always the understanding that we [were] to revert to the official guidelines, which would have created a start date in September and ended in May.”
Hill says the move will greatly benefit the clubs and players in their aim to become more professional.
“It gives teams an opportunity to [develop] younger talents and also creates more football exposure for the footballers,” he said. “When you compare our minutes being played relative to all the other the nations that we’re competing with in Concacaf, we have to trend upwards. Now we have 39 match weeks, which means players will get an opportunity to play more minutes.”
However, in recent years some supporters have criticised the league, saying that interest only heightens when the play-offs approach.
Hill, though, says he’s confident that the football and entertainment packages will enhance the experience.
“I believe it’s a twofold process as a solution,” he said. “To keep interest alive over 39 match weeks it means we need an infusion of entertainment — which is where Wray & Nephew comes in. They’re always excited to ensure that in three or four match weeks of the month we’re getting high-level entertainment.
“The quality of the play also needs to improve, and I suspect that will happen for the upcoming season. There’s been a number of coaching changes so there’s a technical improvement in the standard of coaching, and then the players who are being infused in the league are also excited. With this new policy within the ISSA guidelines it allows more amateur players to enter the league and play, so I think it will help significantly in how we offset any engagement issues that may come as a result of more games.”
Hill says PFJ is working tirelessly to ensure that the league gets under way on a positive note.
“We’re working day and night — no days off, 24-hour shifts — to ensure all the t’s are crossed, the i’s are dotted, and the final touches are put in place,” he said. “It’s a work in progress. We know it’s going to start on the 15th and we’re looking forward to the opening weekend.
“We’re putting the necessary tools in place from a perspective of gear, locations, television schedule, club registrations, and all the marketing and promotional elements, along with the administrative stuff. We expect that as we move through the process we’ll have a stronger and more viable premier league because the vision is to build out the ecosystem.”
The official fixture list for the 2024-25 season will be released in the coming days. Matches are expected to be played mainly on Sundays, with the Monday night feature matches set to continue.
It’s likely that Cavalier FC, Mount Pleasant Football Academy, and Arnett Gardens will have some games rearranged due to their commitments in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup.
Cavalier FC are the defending JPL champions while Racing United and Chapelton Maroons are the newly promoted clubs.