Changing the landscape
Gould to open state-of-the-art Mount Pleasant Football Academy this September
Thursday’s press launch of Mount Pleasant Football Academy, in Runaway Bay, St Ann, saw founder Peter Gould outlined his vision to establish a state-of-the-art facility as he said he intends to help create football stars and what he described as a legacy that will forever change the landscape of football in Jamaica.
The English businessman is pumping millions of dollars into the academy that is being constructed to facilitate up to 72 children between 11-15 years old, and the academy is set to open its doors in September.
While outlining that he is not looking to disrupt the centre of football in the country, Gould noted that the central location of St Ann is what drove him to invest in such an uncommon team in the rural area rather than in Kingston or Montego Bay.
“It is right central in the country. People don’t realise it is rural, but we have an hour and a half from Kingston and an hour to Montego Bay airport. St Ann is now going to now become the centre ... there are more cars going through St Ann now than ever. I plan to plant my flag here and make it a major force,” said Gould.
COMPETE WITH KINGSTON
“No, I’m not going to make it the centre of football, Kingston is,” he added. “Kingston is the capital it deserves to have it (centre of football), and I’m not going to compete with Kingston or even Montego Bay. Just putting St Ann on the map, and I think we can carry on that continuity and movement of what’s going on.”
Gould, who is looking forward to making Mount Pleasant an overall sports academy in the future, said he does very little other business in Jamaica, as the academy is his primary focus.
“At the moment, I’m putting all my time into this academy. I got other commitments which I deal with, but, at the moment, the school with the football team takes up a fair bit of time,” said Gould. He added that he decided to invest in Jamaica because of all the countries he has been travelling to for the past four years, he feels most at home here.
“I’ve been travelling the world doing various businesses and I felt as comfortable staying here as anywhere else. I’ve travelled to outside my home so I just decided to make this home. I’ve been on the road for four years and I’ve spent more nights in Jamaica than I have in any other country,” he added.