‘Compound’ to host JPL matches next season
AFFECTIONATELY CALLED ‘Compound’, the official home ground for five-time Jamaica Premier League (JPL) champions Harbour View is currently undergoing renovations to both the playing surface and infrastructure in a bid to get the stadium fit and ready again for the hosting of televised premier league matches.
Clyde Jureidini, general manager of the club, stated that based on the location of the club it was only natural for them to undertake the costly venture, and added that there’s a sense of anticipation around the club as the renovation exercises are nearing completion.
“The field was opened by Jack Warner and Captain Horace Burrell in 1994 when we entered the Caribbean Major Football League as a franchise. We’re now in 2024, that’s 30 years, and we have eight teams so we had to conduct maintenance to our infrastructure.
“We are by the sea, hence the name Harbour View, so the salt air attacks and erodes the infrastructure. We’ve spent millions of dollars upgrading the lighting, field surface and in due course the seating and other infrastructure. The players, coaches, administrators and supporters want to be there as they don’t want to travel to any other club grounds as everyone loves the atmosphere and relaxed environment of the Harbour View Football Stadium,” he outlined.
Jureidini said that while the club couldn’t meet the Premier League’s January deadline for the stadium’s availability, they’ll now take the extended time to do additional work which will ensure that the club is ready to go for next season’s start of the JPL.
“The deadline of early January where all the Sunday and Monday night live television games had to be confirmed with both the Professional Football Jamaica Limited and SportsMax couldn’t be met but everything will be in place for the next premier league season which is scheduled to start later this year. Therefore, we said that since we couldn’t meet the deadline, let’s take our time and do it as best as we can with both the time and expertise needed to get the job done,” he added.
Between the remainder of this season and the start of the upcoming season, Jureidini stated that the club will continue their ground work with local and international sponsors in getting back to premier league standards.
“We’ll continue with our normal tournaments, practice games and mini tournaments as we always do between now and then. It’s just the hosting of premier league games for television that demands higher standards, but we’re working assiduously with both local and international sponsors so we’re certainly looking at getting back to that standard,”he stated.