General Secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Dennis Chung says the organisation is now considering the possibility of bringing back former Reggae Girlz Head Coach Hue Menzies to take up a key role with the national women’s programme.

Menzies, who was born in England, is no stranger to the national women’s programmes, having led the Reggae Girlz to their first Fifa Women’s World Cup tournament in France in 2019.

However, he stepped down from the post shortly after that achievement due to what he said was a lack of professionalism as well as perceived disrespect shown by the governing JFF.

Leading up to Chung’s comment, Menzies has on a few occasions said he would be willing to return to the national programme, provided that the atmosphere was right, and he was also clear that must include the removal of then general secretary Dalton Wint.

Chung, who replaced Wint in the post on November 1 of this year, told the Jamaica Observer last evening that Menzies’ wealth of coaching knowledge could be a great benefit to the focus thrust in moving the women’s game to the next level.

“No, he is not a part of the programme or anything to do with the JFF,” said Chung, seeking to make it clear that there is no formal engagement between Menzies and the federation. “He is actually my cousin, and so he is here offering some advice and the president wants to look at the possibility of how he could assist us in some way, and so that is what is being looked at,” he said.

“It [Menzies’ advice] has nothing to do with the Reggae Girlz’s campaign, but the development overall. He has over 30 years of experience in terms of coaching, and so I think he will be a good guy to have in the national programme,” Chung said.

The new chief administrator said JFF President Michael Ricketts, along with members of the local football body’s hierarchy should be meeting very soon to discuss the matter to see if a formal engagement is possible.

“There is nothing concrete because it is just a thought that the president has, but this will have to be discussed at the board level and everything, but he [Ricketts] is looking at all options in front of him,” Chung said.

“He [Menzies] and Lorne [Donaldson] work good together because you know that Lorne was his assistant in the first World Cup campaign, so he is no stranger to the national programme,” Chung noted.

When reaced on Tuesday, Menzies said he has been approached by the JFF and he was quick to reiterate that he is willing to assist in some capacity to help drive the women’s football programmes forward.

“They have approached me about doing it and obviously the programme is a programme that we kind of built from day one, so I am very attached to it personally, and I want to see it going in the right direction,” said Menzies.

“Lorne is doing a great job, so if they need my assistance and my expertise, then I will be happy to assist [in any way] I can,” he added.

Menzies, who holds a masters in business, is executive director of the Flroida-based football organsation Florida Kraze Krush.

— Robert Bailey

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