LEGACY UNMATCHED
MEMORIES OF A JAMAICAN FOOTBALL ICON
CAPTAIN HORACE Burrell breathed new life into football as President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). Loaded with ambition and a clear vision, Burrell knew exactly where he wanted to take the country’s football: the very pinnacle, the senior men’s World Cup Finals. In the context of the game and its history here, The Captain achieved that milestone swiftly, hitting the high point four years into his tenure with the Reggae Boyz’s historic France ‘98 qualification. Football was on a good platform and with a good core when Burrell took over the reins from attorney, Heron Dale. Just ahead of Dale’s coming, the Jamaica team was starved of international competition, as there was no regional championship and the country largely played World Cup Qualifiers or a friendly here and there. Supporters and national representatives basically got action through infrequent exhibition matches generally organised by private individuals. The Shell Caribbean Cup changed that in 1989. However, the initial tournament served up an unforgettable experience for Jamaica, elimination at the first hurdle in a 1-0 shocker at Antigua.
HISTORIC FEAT
The drama of the Abu Bakr-led coup upended the second tournament, with Jamaica set to face Barbados for third. In 1991, Jamaica would win the championship, and placed third in 1993, when they went on to secure the historic feat of placing third at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, this after beating Honduras 3-1. So by the time Burrell took office, Jamaica’s football was on a path to success. He was fairly new in football at the time – with prior administrative experience at KSAFA, before being brought into the JFF fold and it did not take long for him to establish himself as the general. Burrell grew outwardly by fortifying very strong links with those in the topmost echelons of football, including long-time CFU and CONCACAF boss, Austin ‘Jack’ Warner and FIFA Presidents Joao Havelange and Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter. He held positions as senior vice-president of CONCACAF and vicepresident, CFU. Burrell was also cited in a cashfor-vote scandal – which rocked FIFA and led to the subsequent dismissals of Blatter and Warner, among other leading figures – for which he was handed a six-month ban, later reduced to three.
WANTED STRONGEST TEAM
On the field, Captain wanted the strongest team. He said the Reggae Boyz were the only earner among national teams and used it as the thrust for the nation’s football.
For the 1998 Road to France campaign, he went to Brazil for René Simões, a coach also remembered for the famous inscription on his shirt, ‘Jesus Saves’. Burrell then found creative ways of bringing back the country’s best footballers who were on contract overseas at the time, such as Walter Boyd, Wolde Harris, Paul Young, Altimont Butler, Anthony ‘Bingy’ McCreath, Fabian Davis, and Paul Isaacs to play for the national team.
Later, Peter Cargill and one of the 1993 Gold Cup heroes, Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis, joined
the team after returning from professional stints in Israel. The plan, importantly, needed money and matches for practice and success. This came with international games at the National Stadium, mainly, and they fostered a spirit of endearment towards the Boyz.
With all combined, the team gained momentum to even win football’s Best Mover of the Year Award, in 1996, on its journey to the ultimate stage, the World Cup Finals. Under The Captain’s leadership, Jamaica also qualified for three FIFA Youth World Cup tournaments: Under-17, New Zealand 1999; Under-20, Argentina 2001; and Under-17, Mexico 2011.
LONG REIGN
Those landmark achievements, mainly the France 1998 qualification, set the stage for an almost unbroken reign for Burrell as boss of the nation’s football. He was voted out of office only once, when Crenston Boxhill defeated him in a bitter and narrow poll that placed the latter in the sport’s presidential seat from 2003-2007.
One full of pride, that election loss marked one of the most difficult periods for Burrell, who had returned to the presidency in an unopposed mandate. Since then, he had never faced a challenge for the position that will now have to be filled, given his passing at Johns Hopkins Cancer Treatment Center in Baltimore, United States.
In my near 30 years’ experience covering football and the senior men’s national team, interestingly, and understandably so, death had brought the most challenging of times to Burrell. That time, it was the passing of his son, Tajh, who was shot at a pizza store in Kingston.
In a telephone call to express condolences, Captain was at a loss for words as he grieved the tragic incident. In a conversation at the funeral, while covering as part of the Gleaner team, the tears welled up in his eyes, then slowly began to flow. This presented a completely different side to Burrell, a tough-talking, strong-willed leader who seemed to always get his way.
He was also a dapper man, full of suave and humour, which superceded the imagination. If you were around when he came into the lobby during overseas assignments with the Reggae Boyz, you would get a real bellyful of laughter.
Perhaps owing to his army background, The Captain was never afraid of dealing with the tough questions, even if
it meant having a rant at the media first before fulfilling the request. He even ranted at press conferences at sponsors too, when he believed they were not pumping enough dough or none at all into football.
The worst confrontations with Burrell came when the pressure was on - dealing with the Reggae Boyz threatening to strike over remuneration, a situation that happened on several occasions. One incident in particular
took place at the Caribbean Cup Finals in Martinique, in 2010, when arguments between Burrell and players got to a real boiling point.
BELIEVED IN HONOUR
He called their threats to back out of the tournament treasonable and held firm belief in the honour of representing one’s country.
As journalists away on assignment, we always travelled as a team, a family, and held true to our responsibility of getting both sides of the story, in a timely fashion. No administrator likes press that can be construed as negative and Burrell was no different.
An infamous run-in with Burrell came when Jamaica made a historic run to the CONCACAF Gold Cup Finals in 2015, while the team camped in Los Angeles for the preliminary phase. With another player mutiny looming large over remuneration issues, I sought comments from Burrell, sitting in the company of his fellow JFF executives. At first, he responded angrily and said he needed time, but apologised in an instant then granted the interview, noting respect with a handshake at its conclusion.
Out of bad situations come good sometimes and that team, having resolved the issue, went on to claim Jamaica’s highest ever placing at CONCACAF level, with a historic runner-up finish. They lost in the final against Mexico. Earlier in the tournament, the Jamaicans also defeated the United States on home soil for the first time. Team composition, coaching courses, formalising Premier League club and payment structures and firing coaches also fit into Burrell’s legacy.
As far as Jamaica’s football mattered, Burrell’s vision involved taking the game to its pinnacle.