Former national footballer-turned-coach Schyan Jeffers believes there needs to be a bigger push towards a home and away format during the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association’s top tier.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sport Show, Jeffers who is coach of defending champions in the Antigua Premier League (APL), All Saints United, said home and away fixtures would significantly boost support for respective teams and the sport in general.
“Since I was playing, I’ve been saying that we need home and away games because if I have a game at McPond, the amount of elderly will come out and support me, the amount of young aspiring footballers, the amount of people that will come out who don’t have anything to do – just to support your team and then you can eventually do marketing, merchandising in that way. If you’re wearing yellow, you can sell a yellow T-shirt and then your whole community will come out in yellow so in that way, we will generate more finance to help the team,” he said.
Talks of home and away fixtures in the country’s top division has long been a topic of debate. The idea is however, often shut down by some who question to ability of some clubs to adequately prepare their respective venues for matches while providing the necessary amenities for spectators.
Jeffers, currently an assistant coach with the senior men’s national team, said clubs must shoulder the responsibility to ensure their venues are up to a particular standard.
“The clubs, again, we are not doing enough to prepare our grounds so that we can have home and away and we need that very much. We need to prepare our grounds so we can have home and away, so we can generate more finance. The more finance that the clubs generate, the better our league becomes,” the former midfielder said.
Matches in the APL are played at the FA’s Technical Center on weekends with the local governing body in control of the gates. Teams are, however, given monetary rewards for wins and or draws during the competition.
