Stars of the East send title-winning duo overseas

Five-time national football champions Harbour View Football Club will start the new Jamaica Premier League season without the services of their dynamic duo, Colorado Murray and Timar Lewis, following overseas transfers. Murray will now be plying his trade in El Salvador for CD Fuerte San Francisco while Lewis heads to Europe and will feature for FK Sloboda MrKonjic Grad in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second division.

Clyde Jureidini, general manager of the club, believes the players will be greatly missed as they’ve left an indelible mark on local soil.

“Both players made their mark here and did well to assist us in primarily winning the 2022 Jamaica Premier League, our fifth title. In fact, it was Colorado (Murray) who scored the opening goal against Dunbeholden. Timar (Lewis) has been consistent over the last three years since he joined us and scored the first hat trick of last season. We’re happy for both of them and wish them the best of luck,”Jureidini said.

The transfers, according to the Jureidini, come at an unfavourable time as the club is currently participating in the 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Club Championship and in short order will commence preparation for the upcoming local Premier League season.

“There is never a good time to lose good people. We also lost both of them on the back of Cristojaye Daley, who went to Macedonia. Then, just last week, Nicholas Hamilton switched and went back to his old club Cavalier, so we lost four major attackers and we are currently rebuilding. We have players coming in the next two to three weeks and will be, we think, as good as some of these players and hopefully will make their mark,” he explained.

“It’s a big challenge (losing key players), but one we have to learn to live with. In the last decade we have lost a massive amount of talent, primarily to the US Major League Soccer and now to Europe. The European leagues are looking at our players at a younger age and in larger numbers and are buying on potential. That’s something we’re grappling with, but learning to master,” Jureidini said.

The veteran football administrator also sought to clear the air on how the club replaces quality players with players of similar style.

“From 1966 when the youngsters in Harbour View started developing themselves, we’ve always looked internally. So now we have from under-seven to under-17, we’ve looked internally for our development and we build by lifting ourselves from the bootstraps, always did going 50 years and we’re going to continue,” Jureidini said.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com