Phoenix is affiliated with St Ann, says Beckford
“I saw the comments from [the general secretary] and honestly, it doesn’t seem like they know what’s going on. Phoenix was affiliated for a long, long time. Then there was a break, and I must tell you, from the genesis of the Whisper transfer, Craig Butler came to me personally to make sure they were registered.”
ST ANN Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Beckford says the Craig Butler-coached Phoenix Academy is registered with the parish association following comments from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) stating otherwise.
Earlier this week, the JFF released their final squad for the Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship Qualifiers. On that list, all players affiliated with Phoenix Academy were listed as ‘unattached’.
Dennis Chung, the JFF general secretary, explained that this was done as Phoenix Academy is not recognised to be registered with the JFF or any of its parish associations. However, Butler insisted that Phoenix Academy had been registered with the SAFA.
Beckford, after seeing the comments made by Chung, says Phoenix Academy is registered with St Ann and should be recognised as an official member of the JFF.
According to Beckford, he personally handled the academy’s registration to ensure that there would be no legal problems with the transfer of Dujuan ‘Whisper’ Richards from Phoenix Academy to English Premier League club Chelsea FC.
“I saw the comments from [the general secretary] and honestly, it doesn’t seem like they know what’s going on. Phoenix was affiliated for a long, long time. Then there was a break, and I must tell you, from the genesis of the Whisper transfer, Craig Butler came to me personally to make sure they were registered. I personally administrated and allowed Phoenix on the FIFA platform because I told Craig if he wasn’t there, then he’d have problems.
“So when I saw the article about the general secretary saying that they weren’t affiliated, it was the same general secretary that had sent out a list before and they had them listed as Phoenix players. But when the youths make the side now, they had them as ‘unattached’. But I can say that Craig Butler and Phoenix is affiliated with St Ann,” Beckford said.
Chung stated that if Phoenix are registered with St Ann, then the academy must compete in the parish’s competitions, however, Beckford said this is not so. According to Beckford, Phoenix does not need to compete in their competitions to be considered a member.
Despite this, Beckford said Phoenix had been in talks to compete in St Ann’s Major League.
Beckford had spoken with Butler last year about Phoenix Academy joining St Ann’s Major League. Those plans did not work out in time. However, he expects to resume talks with Phoenix on their inclusion for the upcoming season.
“What Craig had asked me was if he could put a team straight into our Tier Two, and I told him no as the only way would be to join our Major League, and if they win the playoff, then they’d be able to play in the Tier Two. But by that time, we had already started our Major League from last year.
“But to add to that, you don’t have to play any competition to be a part of any parish association. You have some parishes now that haven’t played any competition for three or four years and are still affiliates of the JFF. We’re going to start the meetings for next season’s Major League, so all being well, Phoenix will be there,” Beckford said.