As the discussions surrounding a possible shift to a franchise football system at the top level of Jamaican club football continues, football manager and Phoenix Academy founder Craig Butler has weighed in on the matter.
Butler, the manager and adoptive father of Bayer Leverkusen attacker Leon Bailey, says he does not believe a franchise system would benefit Jamaica’s football, and is calling on the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to instead focus on developing a national structure and style of play.
“What we would be doing, which is ridiculous, would be to follow the US methodology and no one else in the world follows the US methodology,” said Butler in reference to the United States based – Major League Soccer, which is structured on the franchise football model.
Jamaica is not America
“The US methodology is designed for a country like America. Jamaica is not America. Jamaica needs the community support, Jamaica needs to have avenues and areas of development of football. I don’t think anything is wrong with the club system that we currently have,” Butler added.
The outspoken Butler believes the island’s football authority should put a unified style of play in place and ensure that local players are all developed to suit this approach, which he believes is far more important to improving the national football product.
“What is wrong is, the national system is not putting its foot down and putting in a template and say ‘This is how we want our players to be developed by the clubs’ and going around and ensuring that it happens,” said Butler.
“This is what Germany does, it’s what Belgium does … To put in a franchise system, I believe won’t necessarily benefit the development of football in Jamaica,” Butler continued. “What we need to look at is how we develop an academy structure, how we have uniformity in development and in how we play.”
President of the Jamaica Football Federation Michael Ricketts has stated that the federation is looking to implement a franchise system in the next couple years.
The Red Stripe Premier League currently sits at the top of the Jamaican domestic football pyramid.
Source link : https://jamaica-star.com/article/sports/20180507/butler-blasts-franchise-system
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Publish date : 2018-05-07 03:00:00
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