Santos moving to bring back good old days
Published:Tuesday | April 2, 2024 | 12:12 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Santos Football Club will kick off a series of activities to celebrate the club’s 60th anniversary on Saturday, April 13 and vice president and chairman of the planning committee, Trevin Nairne, revealed that the overall ambition is to make the club a giant of local football once again.
The club has four major projects planned, starting with a dinner and awards at the Terra Nova hotel. This will be followed a day later with a church service in Vineyard Town, and then a get-together at Murray’s later that evening.
Then on April 16, the occasion will culminate with a Masters League game, followed by a KSAFA Championship match at the club’s football field.
“We want to make this a big occasion so that people will start to look at Santos in a different way,” Nairne told The Gleaner.
However, the biggest plan is to renovate the club’s infrastructure and make Santos attractive both on and off the field.
“It’s about fundraising. We are trying to raise $3 million to refurbish and strengthen the structure.
“Phase two is about the field, and to make it one of the best in Jamaica. We have started work on trying to develop a top-quality surface,” Nairne said.
Santos were the dominant force in local football in the 1970s, winning four straight Premier League titles from 1974-1977, before winning a fifth and final title in 1980.
The club has also produced some of the nation’s most legendary players, including Allan ‘Skill’ Cole, Peter Marston, Howard Bell, goalkeeper Orville Edwards, Winthorpe ‘Jackie’ Bell and Kenneth ‘Bop’ Campbell, among many others.
According the Nairne, the aim is to return to the top flight in the next three to four seasons and re-establish the Santos brand to its former glory.
“ The clubhouse, which is central to the whole club, is in a really poor state. It is our 60th anniversary and we want to honour some people and revive the club.
“We had a three-year programme (to get into the Premier League) and 2024 was the year that was going to put us on a firm setting but we lost a lot of players to colleges and we trying to fix that.
“We have to strengthen the management side, and we have a structure, so Mr (Carlton) Dennis is no more the focal point. While he is the president, we are putting structures around him to strengthen the football as well as the business side, and we believe that next year we will get out of the championship into Tier II.
“Then we hope to put together a team to make it to the Premier League in the next four years.
“We are confident because we have a lot of talent in the area. We just want to direct it with proper structures around it,” Nairne stated.