United not impacted

SECONDARY Schools Football League (SSFL) boss William Wallace has dethroned David John-Williams to become the new president of the TT Football Association (TTFA). Wallace will oversee local football for the next four years following the TTFA elections and annual general meeting, which took place at the Home of Football, in Couva, on Sunday, and he vowed to get funds, fans and the national team back in order.

The first round of voting after lunch saw 46 votes cast with Wallace receiving 20, John-Williams collecting 16 and Richard Ferguson ten. With Ferguson eliminated from the second round, 46 votes were cast again with Wallace winning the head honcho’s spot with 26 votes to 20.

“It has been a long two months. Now, we’re going straight into the fire and the job’s begun. There was a groundswell of support from people, as far as Martinique, who wanted to see a change in the status quo for the betterment of TT’s football,” Wallace said after his victory. However, he made it clear he was adopting a patient approach when it comes to making changes, including that of sacking national coach Dennis Lawrence, who is under fire for a string of miserable results with the Soca Warriors.

“... we have to sit down and discuss that. Dennis has a contract so, up until this time he is still the national coach of TT,” Wallace said. He did indicate he had the right counsel besides him to make such pivotal decisions, including Super League president and TTFA director, Keith Look Loy, laughing off claims the latter would be a “hindrance” to the new administration’s vision.

Wallace gleamed over his United TTFA front, who completed a clean sweep in the elections, starting with Clynt Taylor defeating Selby Browne of John-Williams’ Team Impactors by 27 votes to 17 to claim first vice-president. Susan Joseph-Warrick, of United TTFA, is now the second vice-president as she garnered 30 votes to Team Impactors’ Anthony Moore (ten votes) and Raymond Thom’s four votes for the Ferguson slate. Lastly, United TTFA’s Sam Phillip became the third vice-president with 27 votes by defeating Team Impactors’ Colin Partap (13 votes) and Ferguson’s candidate, Shymdeo Gosine, who could only muster three.

“We are going in in the dark so we need to get some light before we start. I think it (the victory) was more than my campaign. It was what was happening to TT football for the last four years. My campaign was basic but, now it’s all about the collective effort,” Wallace said. The new president divulged he would be having a more open style of governance and it would begin with proper audits on staff and financials. Wallace did reveal, though, he was willing to work with any member of the TTFA and all stakeholders to improve the game. John-Williams refused to offer comment to Newsday following his slate’s emphatic defeat but Team Impactors’ Facebook posted, “On behalf of Mr David John-Wiiliams, we would like to congratulate the new president of the TTFA, Mr William Wallace.”

Laying out some of his other plans, Wallace revealed upping fan turnout is a priority, as well as youth development. “We have to rebuild. We are starting to think about 2026 (World Cup) definitely. We have to start with your young players and put programmes in place so that our young players can come through and come through well. When we start to play good football, the fans will come out,” he added. He indicated he would also be focusing on other committees, particularly marketing and advertising, which were given just $21,000 in the current budget for the next fiscal year, to help boost the national setup. Wallace admitted it’s going to be a challenge but one he’s ready for.

“If I wasn’t ready I wouldn’t have gotten myself involved in this at all. It’s a hard task; the first thing starts with fact finding (and) we’re not sure what we’re going to meet in there. But we are up to the task. You can’t just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk,” he continued. Wallace also promised to look at partnerships to make the Home of Football economically viable, pursuing the controversial Nike deal making the rounds recently, while also seeking advice from legal and business experts on the new direction of the TTFA.