With the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) set for a December 7 restart, Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) Chief Executive Officer Owen Hill says there will be tremendous financial and logistical hurdles to cross for it to be efficient.

The JPL, which has completed nine match weeks, has been inactive since the end of October due to the impact of Hurricane Melissa which led to loss of lives and mass damage to the island. However, in a meeting with various stakeholders including the 14 clubs, the PFJL executive and the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), a consensus was reached to resume next month.

The Jamaica Observer has learnt that some corporate area clubs were pushing to restart as early as this weekend. However, the Observer was told that Treasure Beach FC of St Elizabeth, one of the two clubs worst-affected by the category five hurricane, had requested four more weeks to be ready. The other worst affected club, league leaders Montego Bay United (MBU) of St James, was in agreement with the four-week extension proposed by Treasure Beach.

Hill, though not confirming the exact details of the meeting, told the Observer that the December restart was ideal for all parties.

“When you look at what is happening on the southern and the western end of the island, those teams were severely affected,” he said. “So after that collective conversation and you know, just putting the facts on the table, we thought that four weeks from now would have been a good enough time for preparatory work to take place for the necessary infrastructure work to be completed so that we can at least have a semblance of a restart.”

“While we know, you know, the Kingston-based teams, they were less affected, the truth is because we have a collective league, we have to be responsible and based on those discussions we thought that December 7 was best.”

The decision means, since the end of October, nearly 50 matches have been postponed. Hill says teams are now likely to play twice per week instead of the typical Sunday or Monday matches.

“We have to crunch the games, so normally you’d have like a six-, seven-day window in between games. Now going forward we’ll probably have a three-day window because we’re keeping the same format in numbers of games and we have a window that we need to complete the games by so it just means that we’re going to have games in rapid succession and the clubs are made aware and they are also conscious,” he said.

There may also be more double-headers or shared venues with MBU and Treasure Beach seeing their home ground severely damaged by the hurricane.

“We definitely will be looking at the hub model, just having the games being centralized. We know that Montego Bay Sports Complex is unplayable at least for the next eight weeks, similarly down by Treasure Beach; they also have a surface that’s unplayable so where those games are played, we have to look at the model and determine,” said Hill.

With many of the clubs and the league itself in need of financial assistance, Hill is hopeful that their sponsors and corporate Jamaica can step in.

“It definitely requires a bridge in terms of financing but it also requires that bridge to be built now because the needs are great and they’re immediate so things that were deferred or could have been deferred is now on the front burner and they’re competing priorities,” he said.

“Our approach is to relook at what we would have had as budget. Last or worst-case scenario is to pitch to sponsors for additional support but we just have to use what we have in our arsenal to galvanise the best support.”

Hill, though, believes local supporters can help the financial drive in a major way.

“When we restart, we hope that people will come out and support the games. We hope that you’ll subscribe on television to watch the games because those financial contributions, whether it be at the gate or through subscriptions, will directly go back into the club coffers and it will allow for them to at least stay viable or as a going concern because a lot of clubs right now, their primary source of income was through gate receipts,” he said.

After nine games, MBU lead the standings with 22 points, four ahead of second place Portmore on 18 points. Treasure Beach FC are 10th on nine points, four points above the relegation zone.

Two-time defending champions Cavalier are fourth on 13 points while three time finalists Mount Pleasant Football Academy, the only unbeaten team this season, are eighth on nine points but have only played five games due to their participation in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup.

HILL… because we have a collective league, we have to be responsible and, based on those discussions, we thought that December 7 was best

Montego Bay United’s Deonjay Brown (left) celebrates scoring against Spanish Town Police FC in the Jamaica Premier League match at Montego Bay Sports Complex on September 28, 2025. (Photo: Paul Reid)

Racing United’s Stevaughn Spence (foreground) tries to keep the ball away from Montego Bay United’s Lucas Correa, during the Jamaica Premier League game at Montego Bay Sports Complex on February 20, 2025. (Photo: Paul Reid)