Professional Football Jamaica Limited has secured a JMD$10 million club sponsorship from JN Money Services Limited for the Jamaica Premier League season that is set to get underway next month.

 Jamaica Premier League champions Harbour View FC are to travel to New York City where they will face off with a Caribbean All-Star team in the VM Group Cup on September 3 at Old Boys High School in Brooklyn.

The Caribbean All-Star Select team will likely be comprised of players from the Caribbean Premier League Soccer Tournament including Ojai Bedward, (Jamaica), Clive Murray (Grenada), Kele Sylvester (Jamaica), Kendon ‘Pimaz’ Anderson (Jamaica) and Trayon Bobb (Guyana).

Head Coach of Harbour View FC, Ludlow Bernard, said the match is very important to the Stars of the East.

“This opportunity provides development, visibility and exposure to many of our young players. As the new five-star generals in Jamaica, we are enthusiastic about facing this international XI,” he said. 

“Football fans in general, and Harbour View fans in particular, can come out to see a young Trayvone Reid, our new, sensational goalkeeper Anthony Bennett as well as Jahshaun Anglin, Phillon Lawrence and Nicholas Hamilton. These are all upcoming stars for Harbour View. We look forward to your support.”

Meanwhile, PFJL Chairman Chris Williams is urging fans to support the event.

“The PFJL is happy that we can connect with fans globally. This is the first step towards taking the game on the road as we continue to grow our fan base,” he said.

“Our goal is for Jamaica to be known as a football country in the same way we are known as a track country. We won’t stop until we achieve that goal, so come out and support the event.”

Devon Barrett, Group Chief Investment Officer at Victoria Mutual Group, sponsors of Harbour View FC and the tour to New York, looks forward to the match-up.

“The VM Group picked a team that we thought would take it to the next level. They proved us right by winning the league,” Barrett said.

‘We at VMBS use the tagline ‘transform your everyday lives’ and we have seen the transformation of Harbour View from when the season started to how it ended. We will continue to support their growth.”

The football fiesta kicks off with a match featuring 8-10-year olds from the Griffin Football Club at 2 pm. At 4 pm, former Manning & DaCosta Cup players will square off in an all-schools match featuring the likes of Altimont “Freddie” Butler, Paul Young, Gregory Messam, Alton ‘Noah’ Sterling and Howard “Magic Head” Kerr among others.

September 3 marks the Labour Day weekend in the United States.

Professional Football Jamaica promises a booming start to the 2022-23 Jamaica Premier League season as powerhouse rivals Waterhouse and Arnett Gardens are set to clas in the "BOOM El Clasico".

The "BOOM El Clasico" will see the JPL giants square off over two legs of football slated for October 10 and 17 at Waterhouse Stadium and Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, respectively.

Each club will be allowed to field celebrities as a nod to their communities that have produced some musical giants over decades. Arnett Gardens and Waterhouse's long-standing rivalry attracts the largest spectator following in local football.

Title sponsors BOOM Energy Drink have sweetened the pot with a winner-takes-all prize payout of $JMD1M.

Brand Manager Keteisha McHugh looks forward to welcoming fans,

"BOOM has taken the market by storm, becoming the number-one energy drink in Jamaica. We are the life of any party, so we look forward to bringing our usual high energy to match the excitement of Waterhouse and Arnett Gardens in October. Come October 17, we will find out who's ‘Badda dan’ so come mek we BOOM it up!" said BOOM Brand Manager Keteisha McHugh.

In reacting to the announcement PFJL Chairman Chris Williams said the partnership reflects the significant growth of Jamaica’s football.

“Football is booming in Jamaica,” he said.

“BOOM has joined with the PFJL in continuing the tremendous growth of professional football in Jamaica. BOOM will be answering the question we all have. Who is better; Arnett or Waterhouse? We expect a massive turnout, great football and loads of excitement from this intense rivalry.”

The Jamaica Premier League 2021-22 season culminated last Sunday with newly-crowned champions Harbour View getting the better of Dunbeholden 6-5 on penalties to secure their fifth premier league title.

After a 14-month hiatus, football resumes in the land of wood and water with the Jamaica Premier League is set to kick off spectator free on Saturday, June 26, with the final scheduled for Sunday, September 26, 2021.

Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association of Jamaica, Chris Williams, made the announcement earlier today during a Zoom press conference and which was attended by the main stakeholders including Jamaica Football Federation President Michael Ricketts, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports Olivia Grange as well representatives of team sponsors, presenting sponsors Digicel and broadcast partners Sportsmax Ltd.

Williams revealed that a total of 66 matches are expected to be played during the preliminary round of the competition where each of the 12 teams will play each other once. Matches will be played in double-headers on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

At the end of the round, the teams will be separated into two tiers. The bottom six teams will play each other in a round-robin format for points that will determine rank.

Meanwhile, the top two teams will automatically advance to the semi-finals while the remaining four will play for the remaining two spots.

The semi-finals will take over two legs with the team with the better aggregate advancing to the finals.

No team will face relegation this season.

Four venues have been approved for matches with the National Stadium and Sabina Park being the preferred venues. Should there be a scheduling conflict, Williams explained, Stadium East and the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus will be used to stage matches.

In relation to player and personnel safety, players and support staff will be tested for the Covid-19 virus in the days leading up to matches.

Minister Grange revealed that there is a plan is to have all players vaccinated.

Further announcements are planned to unveil team sponsors and uniforms as well as the fixture schedule.