World-famous reggae singer Maxi Priest has joined the board of directors at Treasure Beach FC, on the south coast of Jamaica.

Treasure Beach FC finished second in the South Central Confederation Super League last season after the club was on an upward trend when the pandemic shut down all football competitions island-wide.

The club started in 1995 in Division 2 and subsequently advanced to Division 1 and then to the Major League competition. It is among the top teams in the Super League in the South Central region.

Priest was formally appointed on July 17 at Lashings Boutique Hotel in Treasure Beach during a meeting that was attended by the President of Jamaican Football Federation Michael Ricketts as well as former JFF President Crenston Boxhill, Patrick ‘Patcha’ Malcolm President of the St Elizabeth FA and Fitzroy Chedda, the Vice President of the St Elizabeth FA. Member of Parliament Floyd Green was also present.

“It’s all change for Treasure Beach FC, with a new highly-skilled, slimmed-down board of directors which will bring a new professionalism to our club,” said TBFC President David Folb. 

“It’s really big news for us that we have attracted such a big name as Maxi Priest to join our board of directors. It all came about after I met him and discovered Maxi’s love of football and I told him that this was the club to join.” 

 Mr Folb credited the passion of fellow board members Carlton Taylor, Garnett Staple, Eric Mullins and Paul Bernard for the club’s continued development.

 "These are the people that can make history here. Too long the sleeping giant has not been able to spread himself, but things are happening here and with new sponsorship and Member of Parliament Floyd Green, who cares about the local community, we can go places.”

TBFC’s Chairman Jason Henzell, owner of Jakes in Treasure Beach said this latest development of the Grammy-Award winner joining the board is another milestone in the development happening in that part of the country.

 “Over the years we have hosted several teams, camps and international sporting personalities. We have also secured scholarships for several former players of Treasure Beach FC to colleges overseas due to hosting the Jonathan Hibbert showcase and saw one of our players transferred to play for a team in Germany,” he said. 

 “We also believe in improving the playing surfaces of fields and have agreed with HEART to offer a horticulture program with a focus on grounds keeping and turf management. Ultimately, we would like our grounds to be associated with the JFF for training and hosting of certain events, including the development of futsal and beach football.” 

Maxi Priest briefly played for a British non-league football club, Southall, and is a well known Manchester United supporter.