Professional Football Jamaica Chairman Chris Williams says new ownership and partnership moves over the last 12 months are a signal that the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) is one of the best leagues in the region.

The 2024-25 season, which gets under way on Sunday, was launched at the Wray & Nephew headquarters in New Kingston on Wednesday.

On Monday, Arnett Gardens and Dream Entertainment signed a partnership which will see the entertainment giants provide managerial guidance to the west Kingston-based club. Similar partnerships have also occurred over the last year with Vere United, Portmore United, and Montego Bay United.

With these moves, Williams says he expects the league to grow even further.

“Professionalism, that’s the word, because once you as the owners and the directors step up your game and step up your performance management, not just of the players but everything in the club, and become more professional, the league will reward you, the fans will reward you,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “We’ve seen a number of moves for the clubs to be more businesslike so we’re seeing improvements and [Chief Executive Officer] Owen [Hill] and I as the independent people, we’re not letting go. We’re staying on them, we’re harassing them and telling them to step up their game in every aspect. Jamaica will see the difference, you see it with a number of clubs but you’re going to see it in all the clubs, I guarantee.”

The league will be extended to 39 regular season games as well as the play-offs which is set to be the longest season in Jamaican top-flight history.

Williams took over as chairman during the COVID-19-affected season in 2021, which had 10 league games and the play-offs.

He says he is proud of how far the league has come in a short space of time and is looking for a record turnout of supporters.

“We’ve been strategising for four years and I always knew and believed in my heart that Jamaica loves their country and football and if you bring the two together, the two can’t miss,” he said. “Everybody is coming on-board — you see the massive turnout of sponsors, you see the big coaches, you see the big ownership moves taking place and of course, you see the players.

“We sold everybody on the dream and once everybody bought into the dream, it’s just been evolving on a rapid. We doing a record number of games and this is the headline I want — ‘We’re putting 250,000 people through the turnstiles for the season’. That is 15 per cent of the population. That’s what we’re focusing on and we’re not buckling.”

The fixtures for the new season will be released this week as the Observer understands that the delay has been due to negotiations with the clubs and the television rights holders.