Maxwell’s family happy he has been recognised by JFF

Christopher Maxwell, son of former Jamaican football player and coach, Geoffrey Maxwell, says the family is happy that his father’s contribution to the sport has been recognised by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).

Maxwell and three other local football stalwarts were honoured during a ceremony at the federation’s headquarters in New Kingston yesterday.

The list of honourees also included former national player and coach, Allan ‘Skill’ Cole, Leander Marshall, former president of the Portmore Football League and Everton ‘Bob West’ McLeary, a former general secretary for the JFF.

Because of his illness Maxwell was unable to attend the ceremony but his son was present to collect a plague in his honour.

“The family feels extremely honoured and extremely proud of his accomplishment, especially in football. We are very honoured when things like this come up because it shows that everybody recognises his contribution,” said Christopher afterwards.

He told The Gleaner that his father, despite suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, was in good health.

“Dad is okay right now in terms of his health, but mentally he is out of it. He has Alzheimer’s, unfortunately. It’s pretty much like he is not remembering anything right now. So even when I told him about this function, he did not react the way he would normally react because the Alzheimer’s has pretty much taken over,” Christopher added.

He says, nowadays, Geoffrey would “hardly speak about anything football”, only discussing things that took place “40, or 50 years ago”.

This, according to Christopher, made the occasion a bittersweet experience.

“When you think back on who he is and what he has done, what he has accomplished and where he has gone in his life, and for him to be at this stage now is bittersweet in terms of he is still alive. Bitter because when you think back on what he has done it is sad to think this is where he has reached, but it is a part of life and it happens to the best of us,” he said.

Geoffrey represented Jamaica as a defender before going on to coach a slew of local football clubs and high school teams.

He guided Excelsior High to one Manning Cup and two Walker Cup titles in the 1980s, and also coached Waterhouse FC to national triumph in 1998.

Optimistic about Jamaican football

Christopher said that before the Alzheimer’s worsened, his father would always speak optimistically about Jamaican football.

“He always spoke about the fact that he believes Jamaica could be one of the leading countries in the world, not just the Caribbean, in terms of football if we get things straight, and if we get things right in terms of training and players that are brought into the programme and so forth. If we get that right, we can be one of the leading teams in the world because we have the talent here and overseas,” he said.

According to JFF President Michael Ricketts, the initiative was an overdue gesture that he intends to do annually.

“Here we are today showing our love and appreciation for the commitment, love, loyalty and the level of entertainment that these players and administrators have given to the sport,” Ricketts told journalists.

“The JFF is intent on ensuring that we re-establish a relationship with our past players and persons who would have given support to football over the years,” he said.