SINCE taking over the reigns at Dunbeholden FC midway last season Harold Thomas has transformed the club from being just another participating team to being title contenders.

He reasoned that the changes came about after the players were given specifics to fight for and to achieve.

“What drives us is that initial goal that we set for ourselves. Initially when we came in it was a talented group of players [but] the ambitions weren’t clearly defined, and we were just playing football.”

The veteran coach said that in providing the right structure and getting the buy-in from the players, they have been able to successfully turn things around at the club.

“We have set some goals, some individual targets for players, and they have bought into the programme and have achieved.”

And while Dunbeholden sit on the edge of claiming their first premier league title today when they meet Harbour View in the final at 6:00 pm at Sabina Park, Thomas is extending his vision beyond just the 2021-2022 season.

“For me personally, it is seeing this dream come alive and to set a platform for development for the club for the future. It’s not just this year; we are hoping that with the performance of the team and the platform that we have put in place, there will be many years of success to come,” he said.

But getting to where they are as a club has not come easily, in fact, it has been months and months of hard work he explained.

“It’s a lot of work. It’s not always fun and games when they have to perform and train but if we have a goal, if we have a shared commitment to excellence, once they all buy into that then it becomes relatively easy.”

He admitted to having to change things up in order to keep the players focused, which has — in the end —worked out very well for the organisation.

“There is, of course, the situation that you have to keep refreshing and remotivating them because it’s a long league. Once they buy into that commitment and are prepared to do the work, it has its own rewards.”

The ultimate reward for Thomas and his players this season would be to take the premier league trophy back to the community of Dunbeholden in St Catherine, for the very first time.

— Dwayne Richards