Nine-time Commissioner of the Year Anthony Cooke has called it quits from football, citing a lack of upward mobility as one of his exasperating reasons.

Cooke, who served as Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) match commissioner for 26 years from 1993 to 2019, was voted tops in that area of endeavour nine of the last 12 years.

“Like any good worker in any organisation you are always seeking to improve yourself in an effort to be effective on the job, which would allow you gain upward mobility. But when you realise that not only are you not moving, but there are others who came in long after you and moving ahead of you then you have to assess yourself and decide whether you want to continue in such an environment,” Cooke told the Jamaica Observer.

“The truth is I did stay longer than expected, but decided the time to call it a day is now,” he added.

The 45-year-old Cooke is currently the General Manager of NTD Ingredientes Jamaica, with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, as well as being a certified coach for both football and cricket.

Cooke first won the Commissioner of the Year award in 2004/05, and won the following six consecutive years. His last was in the 2015/16 season.

“My success can be attributed to my over 20 years management experience, maintaining my integrity, maintaining a high level of professionalism that always commands respect from all stakeholders, coupled with solid mentors like Winston “Dirks” Campbell, Raymond Anderson, Carlton “Spanner” Dennis, Richard “Roots” Nathan and Horace Lewis. These gentlemen helped to mould me into the commissioner I was,” he noted.

Cooke, who was the assistant coach of the Manning Cup team at his alma mater Kingston College in 1999 and coached The Queen’s Preparatory cricket teams between 2005 and 2007, could not contain his disappointment at the administration at a recent football tournament in the island.

“I am used to a certain standard, one that I set extremely high. So when I encounter sub-standard then it will irk. Take the just-concluded National Premier League…for three consecutive weeks the players and officials turned their back to the VIP/Royal Box during the playing of the National Anthem to face the flag that was on a pole to the north of the stadium,” Cooke pointed out.

“When a simple fix should have been to remove the flag from the pole and let two ball kids march out with the flag and stop between the fourth referee station and the players’ bench, but on the field approximately two metres from the touchline,” he suggested.

“Next, there is no way it looks professional when stuff is stored behind any team bench…that area must be sterile. While the sponsors are spending the funds, you cannot allow any promotional activity on the chevron, especially if it requires the use of a ball to shoot at a target. Find a location on the field to do that, therefore, that should have been organised in advance.

“There are so many more that I can comment on that went wrong, but will say it’s the first time I was seeing a match commissioner march out behind the teams and officials. That one took the cake for me,” Cooke added.

Regardless, with his wealth of knowledge, Cooke is willing to serve football in any other capacity to build the sport he so truly loves.

“I will be willing to serve the game of football in the classroom training and developing other match commissioners. That’s my passion regarding the game. My days down on the field are over. For me to contribute any further, I know it would be best served in the classroom or in the background,” he ended.