Molynes look for more community support next season
PRESIDENT OF Molynes United Herman Cruickshank said the club will rely a lot more on community support rather than corporate assistance to help finance their way through the 2020-2021 Red Stripe Premier League season.
Cruickshank said they placed their faith in the hands of their corporate sponsors to assist them with financing the team last season, but that proved insufficient and unreliable. As a result, the Molynes United president said they are looking at more innovative ways to get the fans and community members involved in generating funds for the club.
“We are banking on the community support this trip (season) because I don’t think the business places will have much to give, so we will rely on the community support. We need to build a fan base and have them paying, like $1,000 dues, to assist the club going forward. So we can get that money from spectators more than from business places, so we will be asking to community to back us more this season,” Cruickshank said.
When the league was called off in March, Molynes (29 points) were in 10th place and 11 points clear of the relegation zone. Although Cruickshank understands that clubs at the top have been affected more by the cancellation, he believes that cancelling was not a bad choice, as very few clubs could have afforded to finance the remainder of the season.
WORK ON THE CLUB
“Our club abstained from voting (on decision to cancel the season). We didn’t vote, because to start back the league and get it running again, people like Molynes couldn’t afford it. I don’t know who could because of the things and restrictions that were needed to be put in place. So instead, we used the opportunity to put our house in order, fix our field and do work on the club.
“We would have needed to pay at least another $4-5 million, that we didn’t budget for and we didn’t have, to finish the season. We would have had to sanitise and put all kinds of things in place, and who would have subsidised that?” he asked.
“So even though everybody wanted to play, they knew deep down we couldn’t unless [the] Government or the Jamaica Football Federation came in and gave us the additional money to get the league going,” said Cruickshank. “Where would you get three to four months of money to continue? So it was a good move, although teams like Waterhouse and Mount Pleasant, who are just a point apart and want to play Concacaf [leagues] and win the [domestic] league, had more at stake. But I wouldn’t fool myself. I knew we couldn’t find an additional $5 million to carry through [the season]. It’s better we use the $5 million to start the preseason for next season.”
Molynes, who formerly played at Chalmers Avenue, off Molynes Road, are upgrading their new home turf, Jacisera Park, which is also located off Molynes Road.