STARS OF THE EAST TURN TO YOUTH - Chairman paints a picture of the way forward for relegated Harbour View

After 31 consecutive seasons and five Jamaica Premier League (JPL) titles, Harbour View Football Club's illustrious run in the domestic top-flight came to an end, following a 2-1 defeat to Cavalier on the last day of the regular season.

Harbour View finished second from bottom, only ahead of league debutants Spanish Town Police, after nine wins, 12 draws, and 18 defeats.

The club's long-standing chairman, Carvel Stewart, although disappointed, pointed out that they have travelled this road before and that they will now look to their youth players in their efforts to restore their Ppremier Lleague status.

"It is disappointing to be here now. There have always been up's and downs, and we have had this experience before the 31 years started. So we are here, and we have to accept the results and move forward," he said.

"We will review what has happened and what went wrong and looked  towards a future. Our youth programme is very successful. We will reach down and bring them up and see how they perform. That will be the main thing.

"The whole purpose of our youth programme over the years was to underpin the senior team, and now we have to go down there and should have gone down a bit more (before)., Uunfortunately, not everybody thought it was necessary for them to step up."

Harbour View had one of the best attacks in the JPL all season, with two of the top three scorers in the league, Trayvone Reid (21) and Rohan Brown (17) accounting for most of their goals.

The team also scored 53 times throughout the campaign, the only team outside the top seven to net over 50 goals this term.

However, with the exception of Spanish Town Police, who let in 111 goals, Harbour View had the worst defensive record in the league, conceding 73 times. Apart from the two relegated clubs, no other team in the league had 60 goals scored against them.

Nevertheless, Stewart did not think defence was the main issue.

"We never had a consistent midfield. We have players who can play football, but they are not cultured midfielders. They are very good players with the ball, but the passing game was absent for us, and we have always thrived on our midfielders giving us the passing game, and we didn't have that this year."

On a more general note, Stewart believes the league is losing some of its competitive edge, because big-spending clubs are stocking up on the league’s best talents, and in the process, are denying other clubs the quality and experience of those players.

"The issue is not just for this year. There are a number of issues around the competitiveness of the league. Look at the spread of the points and you will see that they are concentrated in a certain area 

"The problem I see is the accumulation of very good Ppremier Lleague players in one or two areas [clubs]. I go everywhere for the matche,s and I see players in their street clothes, who are starters in the Ppremier Lleague. I see players on the bench, who are starters. And when you deny the league that sort of talent all around, then the competitiveness drops down a bit. It has nothing to do with us failing, but that is just true," he noted.

Harbour View will play in the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Championship League (Tier II) next season.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com