SVG to host revived Windward Islands football tournament

The four Windward Islands — Dominica, St Lucia, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines will once again be engaged in a senior football competition, through the revival of the Windward Islands football tournament.{{more}}

An over-the-moon Venold Coombs, president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation, confirmed the return of the tournament, last Sunday at the Victoria Park, during the opening ceremony of the Hairoun Beer national inter-community league competition.

The revival of the tournament has been brewing for several years, but only got as far as mouthing of the intentions to host it.

The tournament was once the zenith of football in the Windwards, when the competition was known as the “Popham Cup”, during the 1960s and 1970s.

Then held on an annual basis, the Popham Cup lost its name, and the tournament among the islands became a sporadic affair, which reports say was last held over ten years ago in Grenada.

But Coombs, who returned to head the St Vincent and the Grenadines football set-up in September, 2011, kept the revival of the four-island tournament as part of his usual tongue tooting and sermonising, whenever he had the opportunity to expound on football matters.

“We are going to bring back the Windward Islands competition – Grenada, St Lucia, Dominica, St Vincent (and the Grenadines) which has not been played for years, and it is the second time I have been playing a leading role in restarting the Windwards tournament,” the chest thumping Coombs exclaimed.

St Vincent and the Grenadines is set to host the tournament in April this year, with the Victoria Park being the venue for the matches, according to Coombs.

“We are going to get almost $60,000 for the Windward Islands tournament and that will be deposited in the Windward Islands account in St Lucia. There is a Windward Islands executive, and the presidents vote(d) me as president”, the local football boss hailed.

And, in extending the competition to include the females, Coombs stated: “You are going to have a female component in December… You are going to have it in December,” the SVGFF president disclosed.

Coombs also said that St Vincent and the Grenadines will be making efforts to be part of an Under-15 festival in the Cayman Islands later this year, as his organisation continues to ensure that football is played among all age groups of national teams, so that they are given the needed exposure.(RT)