Former St James FA President Sonny Vassell passes

Western Bureau:      

St James football lost one of its most revered sons on Tuesday with the passing of veteran administrator and businessman Samuel ‘Sonny’ Vassell, who served successful stints at the helm of Seba United FC and the St James Football Association.

According to a family friend, the 88-year-old Vassell, who was left incapacitated by a major motor vehicle accident several years ago, has not been enjoying the best of health in recent times, albeit there was always a sparkle in his eyes whenever a discussion turns to football.

In reacting to the news of the veteran administrator’s death, former national coach Carl Brown, whose Boys’ Town team had many legendary battles with Seba United when Vassell was the driving force behind the Montego Bay-based club, which now operates as Montego Bay United FC, hailed his contribution to football.

“You made a great contribution to the lives of many through your love for sport,” said Brown, in expressing condolences to his family and friends. 

It should be interesting to note that while many believe that Vassell’s first love was music, having been the owner-operator of a once-popular sound system, it was difficult for him not to gravitate towards football as his sons Gary, Andrew and Peter Lee were all daCosta Cup stars, who went on to distinguish themselves in club football, and in the case of Peter Lee, for Jamaica and on the club circuit in the United States.

Vassell’s contribution to football was particularly significant because at the time he started throwing his support behind the sport, not many established businessmen in St James were willing to do the same, especially behind a team like Seba United, which came from the marginalised North Gully community in Montego Bay.

It was therefore not surprising when former St James FA President Wesmore Thomas, who was at the helm of the association in the era in which Seba United, Wadadah FC, Violet Kickers, and Reno FC, of neighbouring Westmoreland, were the dominant teams in national club football, invited him to serve as a vice-president.

Vassell quickly became a major force in the St James FA, and when Thomas decided to relinquish his position as president in the 1990s, he was the unanimous choice to take over the leadership of the parish’s football.

Despite the many trophies Seba United and St James won under his stewardship, Vassell’s most cherished moment came when his son Peter Lee became a member of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, and he never hesitated to highlight that fact.

“Mi feel proud. Extra proud! Mi ‘over proud’ because I know he could make it to be a good player. They couldn’t stop him, that born in him,” he said at the time.