FOLLOWING the successful hosting of matches at Montego Bay Sports Complex over the last eight months, stakeholders are expressing their enthusiasm that more Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) feature games will be held in the country’s second city.

Since Montego Bay United’s (MBU) return to the JPL in 2022 and the easing of the COVID-19 protocols, which meant league games were held at UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, the club hasn’t been able to consistently acquire prime time televised games on Sunday and Monday in their parish.

The majority of their home matches have been held at WesPow Park since then, with Montego Bay Sports Complex in Catherine Hall undergoing a surface upgrade last July that was hit with several delays.

When reopened in January of this year, MBU hosted Waterhouse in their first and only Monday night home fixture at the stadium, which ended 2-2.

However, there will be an increase in feature matches at the stadium this year, with the first set for next Monday when MBU will entertain Harbour View FC.

The Jamaica Observer understands that the stadium will also host marquee games next month which will feature teams such as Mount Pleasant Football Academy and Arnett Gardens. Professional Football Jamaica Limited Chairman Chris Williams says they were deliberate in bringing more games back to Montego Bay.

“We can’t wait! Catherine Hall is a carpet — they’ve done a lot of good work, the surface is amazing, it’s a great stadium, and of course Montego Bay is a football mecca so we have a number of big matchups scheduled for Catherine Hall. I can tell you Mobay, ‘You are going to be happy.’ We are bringing big, big matchups to Catherine Hall,” Williams told the Jamaica Observer.

MBU Chairman Yoni Epstein believes football fans in the city deserve more top flight action.

“We’re super excited and we have scheduled three games so far in the first round, based on the TV schedule and the Monday might schedule at Catherine Hall. It’s officially our home stadium; we’ll play all our home matches there and we negotiated a deal with the St James Municipal Corporation (STJMC) so all our home matches will be played there,” Epstein said.

“I also want to thank our fans, who came out in their numbers all season but particularly the second half of last season. We just want to reassure them that they will see the same first class level of play on the field as well as entertainment and excitement in the stadium on all match days — whether that be on a Sunday, midweek, or Monday night match.”

Brand public relations and communications manager of JPL title sponsors Wray and Nephew, Dominic Bell told the Observer that it was a given for more feature league games to move to St James.

“Even last season, the few instances that we had the opportunity to activate in Montego Bay, we were blown away. The crowd numbers out west, they’re hungry for it. What it shows is the product is an islandwide product, and that’s what we see Wray and Nephew as. It’s a part of the social fabric of Jamaica so it’s important for us to have partners outside of Kingston, which the Jamaica Premier League allows,” reasoned Bell.

Meanwhile, mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon says he’s looking forward to seeing MBU’s success, with the stadium being the permanent home ground this season.

“Montego Bay United made a request to use it as their home field, and we have endowed the confidence of use and maintenance to the club. I expect them to win the premier league this season and continue to provide an avenue for the development of youth and sports in western Jamaica,” Vernon said.

Although the west has been given more focus, Williams says St Ann and Clarendon will also be prioritised in the months to come.

“Ocho Rios and Clarendon, we’re coming soon with a surprise for you — we’re going out of Kingston; we know Kingston is not the capital of football. We’ve been trying to put all the pieces together, we now have it together for Mobay, and we are close to putting it together for Clarendon, Ocho Rios,” he said.