‘This is what football is about’
Butler calls on spirit of community as schoolboy football, JPL return
Published:Sunday | November 16, 2025 | 12:10 AM
WITH THE schoolboy football competitions and the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) seasons set to return in the coming weeks, Craig Butler has called on the spirit of community to help teams who have been impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
The Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) and the Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) have both set dates for the return of their respective football competitions.
The Manning and daCosta Cups are to return on November 28 and November 29 with the round of 16, while the JPL will return on December 7.
Butler praised both decisions as he is the head coach of Mona High in the Manning Cup and joint owner of Chapelton Maroons in the JPL.
Butler had previously called for the resumption of the Manning Cup in a report by The Gleaner.
“We understand the challenges people face and that many have lost everything, but let’s not lose football too because football is what can motivate and uplift people. Let’s continue to play football, make the fans and parents happy, and go out there and do the job,” he said.
Now with both competitions, set to resume, Butler said teams who have not been heavily impacted by the passage of Hurricane Melissa should be willing to help those who have been.
“This is what the community of football should be about,” he said.
“If we in Kingston or wherever else have not been damaged badly and can help, then we should be looking at helping the boys by whatever means necessary.
“That’s what this is what football is about, this Jamaica is about. It has to be about caring for people and not holding onto the liquid that’s in your pocket,” he continued.
He said if the roles were reversed, and Hurricane Melissa had made landfall in the Corporate Area, then they would be looking to their counterparts in rural Jamaica to lend a helping hand.
“If it was us in Kingston that had lost all our roofs and our football fields and our animals were all over the place and people dying, you don’t think that we would want to get help from St Elizabeth and help from Montego Bay?”
A unifying sport
Butler said he has supported the relief efforts, and if called upon, he is willing to lend a helping hand to teams who are in need of support.
He said football is a unifying sport and the level of connection it can form among players, clubs, fans, and even corporations is immeasurable.
“As we’ve said, if they need a venue, they can use our venue. If they need somewhere for their players to stay temporarily, we can help to house them,” Butler said.
“This is where the brotherhood of football really should stand. I’m willing because we’re brothers,” he continued.
“Football people are supposed to be operating from a position of love for the game first. And if I have love for the game first, it means that we have love for our opponents, for our brothers, and clubs. We just need to help and we’re willing to do our part.”