A less autocratic approach and empowering football parish associations, and by extension the clubs, are priorities for Michael Ricketts, one of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) presidential contenders.

Ricketts, the Clarendon Football Association president, is regarded by some to be one of the major challengers for the JFF top spot left vacant after the passing of Captain Horace Burrell.

The former army man, known for his strong will and flamboyant nature, was JFF boss between 1994 and 2003, and again from 2007 to the time of his death in June of this year.

“First and foremost, I’d like to see far more inclusiveness within the board of directors. Captain’s style of leadership is a little bit different from what I would want. Based on his personality he was a little bit autocratic and I’d want to be a more laissez-faire kind of leader and be a more inclusive leader,” Ricketts told the Jamaica Observer.

“I want to have a presence as JFF president and to be around my board members and have them be part of the decision-making process.

“I really want to improve and strengthen the parish associations, so whatever they are getting now I’d certainly want to give them more because if they are strengthened, then the clubs are strengthened. Being a parish president I understand what the challenges are. I would love to have a sponsor that sponsors all the parishes so that there is a common template among all the parishes,” he said.

The nomination process is presently open and is set to close August 2. An individual must receive at least four nominations to become a candidate. The election is slated for September 16 with 13 parish presidents set to vote for a new leader.

At press time yesterday, Ricketts, St Ann FA president Danny Beckford, JFF vice-president Raymond Anderson, Phoenix Football Academy boss Craig Butler and former Kingston and St Andrew FA head Ambassador Stewart Stephenson were the parties said to be actively interested in completing the two years left on Burrell’s four-year mandate.

St James football executive Bruce Gaynor is in the midst of a 60-day spell as interim JFF president.

Ricketts said that previous disappointment at the polls has toughened him mentally.

He was surprisingly ousted as a vice-president in a run-off during a Special Congress in December 2015. Gaynor, Anderson and FLOW Jamaica head honcho Garfield Sinclair were elected as the vice-presidents.

“Mentally I am strong and I understand the political process and there will always be a winner and a loser,” Ricketts reasoned.

“It still weighs heavily on my mind, so between nomination and the election anything is possible. People can always change their minds for whatever reasons and there is no certainty in an election.

“But I hope I’ll be elected by my colleagues. I’m pretty confident and if I don’t get the support I’d feel betrayed, but I believe I’ll get the mandate from my colleagues,” he told the Observer.

Ricketts, who said he started as a football administrator in the late 1970s as manager of Vere Technical High School, thinks he is just the man to replace the inimitable Burrell, especially after experience gained while representing the late JFF president at various events in the past.

Ricketts is a long-time member of the Clarendon FA and has served as president since 2003.

He is a former JFF vice-president and has been a member of the body’s board of directors for 14 years.

The Clarendon FA chief said he is not put off by claims that he lacks the international clout Burrell had.

“That’s a process because when Captain went into football he didn’t have that profile or that international connection, so to speak. If I become president and I go to a foreign country I’ll be treated as the president of the Jamaica Football Federation, but later on I’d probably be treated as Michael Ricketts, who is the president because I’d make that connection.

“In due course I certainly would develop the profile and develop the international contacts,” Ricketts explained.