Jamaica Football Federation
| CONCACAF | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | 1910 |
| Headquarters | Kingston, Jamaica |
| FIFA affiliation | 1962 |
| CONCACAF affiliation | 1963 |
| President | Captain Horace Burrell |
| Website | www |
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is the governing body of football in Jamaica and is in charge of the Jamaican national team and the Jamaican National Premier League.
According to records available football was introduced in Jamaica towards the end of the 19th century and 1893 is listed as the year Jamaica formed its first football club. Jamaica's first international appearance was against their Caribbean neighbors Haiti in 1925. They were invited to the French-speaking Caribbean island by Andre Chevalon, president of the then United Sporting Society and it was for a three-match series between the two countries. Jamaica won all three games by 1-0, 2-1 and 3-0. The following year Jamaica hosted their Haitian counterparts at Sabina Park and won by 6-0. The Haitians remained frequent opponents and it was not until 1932 that their run of defeats was broken with a 4-1 home win in Port-au-Prince.
Between 1925 and when Jamaica gained its independence in 1962, Jamaica had regular games with Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Cuba and clubs like Racing and Violette from Haiti, Corinthians of Britain, the Tigers from Argentina, and even a series of matches with a Caribbean All Stars team in 1952. The Caribbean All Stars team included such notables as Michael (The Ruin) Kruin from Suriname and also representing Jamaica were Lindy Delapenha and Gillie Heron. The four games were shared equally with Jamaica winning the second 2-1 and the fourth 1-0 and the All Stars winning the first 5-1 and the third 1-O.
Those friendly international games were the start of Jamaica's football quest with most of the home matches being played at Sabina Park. Many clubs were established during this time including Kensington, Melbourne], Kingston, Lucas and St. George's Old Boys, thus providing the talent Jamaica needed at the time.
In 1965 under the leadership of Brazilian coach Jorge Penna, Jamaica made its first attempt at World Cup qualifying. This was for the 1966 World Cup finals in England. The preliminary group included Cuba, the Netherlands Antilles, and Jamaica. Jamaica's first game was against Cuba which they won 2-0 at Jamaica's National Stadium. In the qualifying match against the Netherlands Antilles, Jamaica also had a 2-0 victory with both goals coming. In the away games Jamaica was held to a goalless draw with the Netherlands Antilles and suffered a 2-1 defeat to Cuba. Jamaica then advanced to the final group of 3 which included Costa Rica and Mexico. The winner of this group would represent the CONCACAF region. Jamaica lost at home to Mexico 3-2 and in the return leg in Mexico City the high altitude proved to much for the Jamaicans and they were defeated 8-0. Jamaica lost 7-0 to Costa Rica in their first encounter and had a 1-1 tie when they played at home.
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