Mount Pleasant Football Academy has been inundated with players from all over the island seeking to join the newly promoted Red Stripe Premier League club, perceived to be awash with cash.

The St Ann-based Mount Pleasant, owned by Peter Gould, was formed in 2016 and took just two years to reach the country’s highest league in what is a considered meteoric rise by any measure.

With preseason on in earnest, some of the nation’s top footballers are heading to the “Garden Parish” in hope of cashing in.

David Galloway, manager of the Mount Pleasant Football Academy, told the Jamaica Observer last evening that over 40 players are turning up each day for training with the hope of securing a spot in the final squad.

“We are trying our best to do what we can do. Everybody wants to be a part of the Mount Pleasant family because of what we are doing,” said Galloway.

“We have over 40 players per day and we cut while we go along. And the more you cut, is the more people coming,” he noted.

But Galloway said the influx is not surprising as the Mount Pleasant model is attractive to players.

“I expected it. If a team or club hit the market with a true potential and vision, everyone would want to be a part of it,” said Galloway.

With the transfer window open on July 1, Mount Pleasant has so far signed national defener Ladale Ritchie and midfielder Ronaldo Rodney from Montego Bay United. Goalkeeper Kadeem Davis from Waterhouse FC and Mount Pleasant are close to reaching a deal.

Galloway, however, didn’t reveal the names of other players seeking to move north, but the Observer has learnt that a number of former and current national players are showing interest.

“The door is always open. We look at players and once you meet the criteria on what we want, we say let’s go forward,” said Galloway.

But with the expected influx of players, Galloway said there is no bad blood between the players that took Mount Pleasant from obscurity to the top flight.

“No, they haven’t showed it (animosity). They are footballers and they understand step by step, stage by stage; and a team qualifying for top flight football, it has to be different football, different set of players,” Galloway pointed out.

He continued: “We still have at least half of the players that were here from last season.”

Galloway admitted that the club is still active in trying to get a few more signatures.

“We are in dialogue for some more (players), but clubs don’t really want to free up and are playing hard. But football is business and it’s all about the game… it’s not about the clubs,but about the game,” Galloway added.

Formed in 2016, Mount Pleasant football club, formerly known as “Stush in the Bush”, is nestled in the hills of St Ann, less than five minutes from the Runaway Bay main road, and has brought back football hype to the parish for the first time since Benfica FC participated in the 2010/2011 season.