In this their third season in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL), Dunbeholden’s General Manager Paul Christie says they are building a team to play Concacaf club championship and winning the local league would be a bonus.

But the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic has basically destroyed his plans and depleted his team.

“We were building a team to win, but that has shifted because of COVID and what is happening,” said Christie.

He said the club’sprogress has been impacted by “death, injury, migration, and players just giving up”.

“The break was too long and some had to make a conscious decision to go ahead and seek other career paths. So we have lost about nine of our core players and as such, we have to recalibrate our expectations,” he noted.

The St Catherine-based Dunbeholden had put together some top players in Errol Stevens, Tremaine Stewart, Keithy Simpson, Zhelano Barnes, and Andre McFarlane who are now out for one reason or another.

The club was devastated by Stewart’s sudden death, which also saw his good friend Keithy Simpson, who had moved from Waterhouse also, quitting this season because he is not ready mentally to play because of his friend’s death.

Former National player Stevens is injured, while McFarlane, Barnes, Cleon Pryce (Portmore United), and Roberto Johnson (Portmore United) are overseas.

Those players, Christie believes, would have wreaked havoc with the likes of Rondee Smith, who came over from Portmore United; Johann Weatherly from Mount Pleasant; Rodave Murray and Mark Miller (Waterhouse); plus seasoned goalkeepers Damian Hyatt, William Benjamin, and Diego Haughton.

Dunbeholden, despite losing top scorer Dean Andre Thomas to Portmore United, have retained midfield general Nickoy Christian, who Christie thinks is in the form of his life and ready to deliver on his early promise.

The hard-tackling centre halves in Andre Dyce and Shaquille Dyer, too, are expected to be in good form.

“The good thing about it, we were operating on a principle rather than personnel, so we will still play the same type of football. But, we are still in it trying to get to the Concacaf Club Championship,” said Christie.

“Winning the competition [Premier League] would be a bonus as our aim for this season is to get to the Concacaf championship, and we are preparing our best, and our unit understands the limitations that are facing us. However, we are not in the business of making excuses,” he added.

In their first season in top-flight football, Dunbeholden finished 10th in the 2018/2019 season on 33 points, inclusive of eight wins, nine draws, and 16 defeats.

Then, in 2019/2020 they were sitting pretty in sixth spot on 43 points and looking to secure their first play-off spot, but the season was cancelled due to the pandemic.

This will be their third season and Christie believes Dunbeholden will make their mark.

“We are not here to participate, we are here to win silverwares,” he said.