The race is over, David-John Williams emerges.
The Soca Warriors Online (SWO) would like to congratulate Mr. David John Williams on his successful campaign after winning the right to serve as the new Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) President.
Williams made a 6-vote sweep, finishing the second round with 25, former president Raymond Tim Kee were runner-up with 19.
Mr. Williams also won in the first rounds with 18 votes. Raymond Tim Kee were again second with 13. Clynt Taylor was third with 8, while Ramesh Ramdhan and Selby Browne were both eliminated with 3 each.
John Williams and his team of Ewing Davis (first vice president), Joanne Salazar (second vice president) and Allan Warner (third vice president) will take up the hot seat and begin work immediately as they seek to improve the image for the sport as well as opportunities for youth developments among many more.
David John Williams told SWO: “I have a strong desire and passion to accelerate positive change in National football. My team and I believe it is incumbent on all of us with a passion for the advancement of Trinidad & Tobago football to step up, to embrace the challenge and put our ideas to the test.”
“We need to dispassionately assess the current state of every level of the game in Trinidad & Tobago, retain what has worked well and introduce fundamental changes where necessary, including re-energizing the grass roots, added Williams.”
TTFA presidential elections
Round One: David John-Williams (18), Raymond Tim Kee (13), Clynt Taylor (8), Selby Browne (3), Ramesh Ramdhan (3).
Round Two: David John Williams (25), Raymond Tim Kee (19), Clynt Taylor (1).
Vice-presidents: Ewing Davis (15), Joanne Salazar (23), Allan Warner (20).
Past Presidents
1908 – Thomas Boyd
1912 – G. Archibald
1916 – Felix Leotaud
1919 – Fr John O Brien
1921 – Felix Leotaud
1929 – Joseph Scheult
1930 – Major ET Carr
1931 – Felix Leotaud
1934 – Capt John Cuthridge
1942 – Major Courtenay Rooks
1945 – Lieut -Commander Charles Hayward
1947 – George Rochford
1949 – Lieut-Commander Charles Hayward
1955 – Ken Galt
1965 – Dom Basil Mathews
1968 – Ernil Paul
1973 – Phil Douglin
1974 – Ken Galt
1978 – John Alleyne
1985 – Peter O Connor
1991 – Major Ralph Browne
1992 – Joe Bodkyn
1992 – Oliver Camps
2012 – Raymond Tim Kee (until 2015)
RELATED NEWS
John Williams is elected as New President of TTFA.
By Shaun Fuentes (TTFA).
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association has a new President in David John Williams following his defeat of Raymond Tim Kee for the position at the FA’s Internal Elections on Sunday at the VIP Lounge, Hasely Crawford Stadium.
In the second round of voting, John Williams received 25 votes to Tim Kee’s 19 while a third candidate Clynt Taylor received one vote. The elections went to a second round because no candidate had 50 percent or more of the votes. Forty five delegates were present for voting with North East Stars and Point Fortin Civic Centre both failing to show. And there were no representations from the Coaches or Players Association which are non-operational.
After Round one, John Williams was ahead with 18, followed by Tim Kee (13), Taylor (8.) and Ramesh Ramdhan and Selby Browne with three each. Both Browne and Ramdhan were eliminated after round one.
John Williams maintained a fair advantage to take the post in Round Two.
The three elected Vice Presidents are Ewing Davis, Joanne Salazar and Allan Warner, all members of John Williams’ slate.
The Board of Directors also elected following a lengthy voting process on Sunday night are Samuel Saunders (Central FA), Sherwyn Dyer (Eastern Counties Football Union), Karanjabari Williams (Northern FA), Richard Quan Chan (Southern FA), Anthony Moore (Tobago FA), Joseph Taylor (T&T Football Referees Association), Dexter Skeene (TT Pro League) and Sharon O’Brien (Women’s League Football).
FIFA representatives Primo Corvoro, FIFA Head of Member Associations and Luca Nicola, Manager Member Associations for FIFA, were both present as observers.
John Williams in the process, became the 25th President of the TTFA dating back to its inception in 1908.
In an immediate reaction, John Williams said : ” I will like to give thanks to the Almighty and thanks to the team that has supported me. I will give my best for Trinidad and Tobago football.
“Some of my immediate goals is to get a budget setting exercise as there are a couple of teams supposed to leave for competitions urgently. Setting up the sub-committees is very important and the technical committee also has to be set up very quickly as I think it is going to play a major role in Trinidad and Tobago football . All these committees need to be functioning as quickly as possible so that we can ensure there is good governance. The other project that is very important for us is the Copa America playoff in January. I will have to meet very quickly with Stephen Hart to see how best we can ensure the team is ready for this game.
“I am the president of the TTFA. I am the president of all of Trinidad and Tobago football and I am very mindful of that. I am going to serve well,” Williams added.
He continued., “I can’t change the passion and love that I have for W Connection. I just have to manage it but I have to be independent. And trust me, I know that Trinidad and Tobago will be scrutinizing me very, very much as far as W Connection is concerned. My daughter is going to take up the mantle (with W Connection).”
VIDEO - See John Williams’ Reactions to becoming TTFA President
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DJW: I won’t be ‘jacket and tie’ president; W/Warriors are TTFA’s first priority.
By Lasana Liburd (wired868).
New Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams vowed to roll up his sleeves and put in the hard work to get the football body humming again and to steer the “Soca Warriors” into a top 50 world ranking.
John-Williams, who was voted to the top football post yesterday and replaces outgoing president Raymond Tim Kee, said he will not be a “jacket and tie president.”
“I want to tell Trinidad and Tobago they are getting a president who will set an example and will do anything for football that is legal to improve the game,” John-Williams told Wired868 last night. “If I have to pick up paper, I will do that. You won’t find a jacket and tie president here, if you understand what I mean.
“I will work hard for the game to bring the pride back to Trinidad and Tobago at all levels.”
John-Williams’ assertion suggests a change in managerial style from his predecessor, Tim Kee, who also held the portfolios of Port of Spain mayor and PNM treasurer and was criticised for not prioritising the local game.
Tim Kee once said, during a radio interview on i95.5 FM, that he only travelled first class and was true to his word, while his players and technical staff flew in coach.
John-Williams said his first priority is to address matters related to the Women’s National Senior Team.
“Women Soca Warriors” coach Randy Waldrum remains in limbo about his post and has waited for a conclusive phone call from Tim Kee for the last month. And captain Maylee Attin-Johnson and star Kennya “Yaya” Cordner both refused to join the squad due to internal issues.
The W/Warriors are expected to depart for Hawaii tomorrow for an exhibition match with FIFA World Cup champions, the United States.
“I hope the last president and general secretary took care of (travel arrangements for the women’s squad) because it would just leave us a day to deal with that,” said the new TTFA president. “The women’s team is not going bad and I would like to see how I can get that on the road. I know there is an issue with Maylee Attin-Johnson and (Kennya) Cordner… They are two important players in the national setup, so it has to be addressed as quickly as possible.
“I think we can come out of that (2016 Olympic qualifying) group. It would be tremendous for the women to qualify for the Olympics, after just missing out on the (2015) World Cup.”
John-Williams, who announced that his daughter Renee John-Williams will immediately succeed him as CEO of Pro League club, DIRECTV W Connection, said he will speak to Men’s National Senior Team coach Stephen Hart soon to discuss plans for next January’s 2016 Copa America play off with Haiti in Panama.
He described the centennial 2016 Copa America tournament, which will include six CONCACAF teams alongside 10 CONMEBOL nations, as “tremendously important” to his stated goal of making the Warriors a top 50 football nation.
“A good performance (against the best South American nations) can see us propel in the FIFA world rankings,” said John-Williams. “We need to be 50 and above to really market the Trinidad and Tobago brand (and) get greater television revenues…
“It is very important I meet coach Hart and the technical department to see where we are in terms of players for that game, as it falls outside the FIFA (match) window.”
At present, the Warriors are ranked 50th in the world while their average position in the past two decades is 64th. Trinidad and Tobago’s highest position since the introduction of the FIFA rankings came in 2000 when then coach Bertille St Clair led the team to 29th place after a top four finish at the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament and two Caribbean Cup titles.
St Clair, a Tobagonian, was also the first coach to take Trinidad and Tobago to a FIFA tournament, after he steered the two island republic to the 1991 Under-20 World Cup with the likes of Dwight Yorke, Jerren Nixon, Angus Eve and Clayton Ince.
Apart from improved marketability, a consistent FIFA top 50 ranking will allow Soca Warriors a straightforward process for accessing work permits to play in Britain.
Incidentally, former Connection player and current team captain, Kenwyne Jones, was Trinidad and Tobago’s last successful export to Britain, after he joined Southampton in 2004. And ex-Connection midfielder, Silvio Spann, was the last Soca Warrior to get a UK work permit back in 2007.
Since then, Trinidad and Tobago’s slide down the FIFA rankings, which started with the TTFA’s infamous blacklist of its 2006 World Cup players, meant that the likes of goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams, midfielder Khaleem Hyland, winger Lester Peltier and playmaker Ataulla Guerra all failed to get permits.
John-Williams said he hoped to meet Tim Kee soon to discuss the TTFA portfolio he has just inherited. He said he would not make change just for the sake of it and intended to keep the things that were working. And that includes Hart’s senior team.
There was a caveat though.
“We seem to have a very stable Trinidad and Tobago national team,” said John-Williams. “I think the pool (of players) can be expanded. Because when you go deeper into the qualifiers, injuries, cards and so on can play a deeper role.
“I will give Stephen Hart that support.”
Hart has pleaded, unsuccessfully, with the TTFA for the past two and a half years to fund a camp for local-based talent, which will allow him to spend time with Pro League players and introduce them to his methods.
However, John-Williams’ proximity to W Connection will remain an intriguing side-plot whenever national senior teams are selected in the foreseeable future, as he acknowledged in a previous interview with Wired868.
“I can’t change the love I have for W Connection and the passion I have for W Connection,” he said, “but I have to manage it.”
Incidentally, Connection advanced to the 2015 Toyota Classic Cup final shortly after the presidential election at the same Hasely Crawford Stadium venue. They won on penalties against Central FC, which is headed by former Sport Minister and advisor to the Sport Minister Brent Sancho and Kevin Harrison respectively, after a 2-2 draw.
At present, Sancho and Harrison are both before the TTFA’s disciplinary committee for a series of alleged ethical and financial violations related to their tenure with the Couva-based club.
John-Williams promised to meet with vice-presidents Ewing Davis, Joanne Salazar and Allan Warner today to set a date for their first board meeting and the creation of the finance and technical committees, which he described as paramount.
The new TTFA board of directors comprises of: Samuel Saunders (Central FA), Sherwyn Dyer (Eastern Counties Football Union), Karanjabari Williams (Northern FA), Richard Quan Chan (Southern FA), Anthony Moore (Tobago FA), Joseph Taylor (Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association), Dexter Skeene (TT Pro League) and Sharon O’Brien (Women’s League Football).
John-Williams missed the birthday of his father, Lewis John-Williams, who turned 96 yesterday in Granville, Cedros.
Instead, the younger John-Williams put Trinidad and Tobago’s football first.
“I am extremely happy (with the TTFA’s election results),” the new TTFA president told Wired868. “It was an emotional day for me personally… My dad is 96 years old (and) I missed his birthday.
“This one is for him. I feel honoured.”
(The new TTFA hierarchy)
President: David John-Williams.
Vice-presidents: Ewing Davis, Joanne Salazar, Allan Warner.
Board of directors: Samuel Saunders (Central FA), Sherwyn Dyer (Eastern Counties Football Union), Karanjabari Williams (Northern FA), Richard Quan Chan (Southern FA), Anthony Moore (Tobago FA), Joseph Taylor (Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association), Dexter Skeene (TT Pro League) and Sharon O’Brien (Women’s League Football).