Newest Pro League Club!
Newly-crowned 2014-2015 T&T Football Association National Super League champion, Club Sando, has been accepted as the newest Digicel T&T Pro League club and will compete from the 2015-2016 season, which is set to begin in September.
However, the Club Sando’s youth teams at Under-13, U-15 and U-17 levels will have the first taste of professional competition when they participate in the Youth Pro League, which will run from March to July of this year.
This was disclosed by Pro League Chief Executive Officer Dexter Skeene as he unveiled the San Fernando-based club, represented by owner Edison “Eddie” Dean and technical director Muhammad Isa, during a press conference at the Pro League’s office, corner Scott Street and Eastern Main Road, St Augustine, yesterday.
Skeene said that the Pro League’s board of directors had reviewed the application of Club Sando, which has been campaigning in the Super League for a number of years and had been successful, and saw it fit to accept the club into the top tier of local football.
Buoyed by an ambitious owner/CEO Dean, a board of directors that includes Steve Goopeesingh, Marlon Zoe, Derek Lange and Muhammad Isa, and dedicated players and fans, Club Sando’s arrival at the Pro League is now a reality.
Isa, who said it is a very proud moment, explained that while Club Sando are very thankful for acceptance into the Pro League, it was something the club had worked very hard to achieve.
“Our organisation has worked very hard to achieve this,” Isa said.
“Three years ago Dean called a meeting with two of the key stakeholders, which were Derek Lange and myself. Our club was approaching 25 years (of existence in 2015), and we decided that at 25 years we want to play at the highest level in the country, which is the Pro League.”
Club Sando enjoyed their best years at the Super League in the last two seasons since the arrival of former St Ann’s Rangers coach, Anthony Streete. In 2013-2015 Club Sando finished runners-up in the both the league (by one point less) and knockout competitions behind Guaya United—another Super League outfit ambitious of entering the Pro League.
One season later, in the just concluded 2014-2015 season, Club Sando wins the Super League title in the year of celebrating their 25th anniversary, and to top it off, are preparing for the highest tier of football locally.
“We will continue to play the high brand of football that we played in the Super League and I will assure you that we will be competitive in the Pro League,” Isa assured.
“Our coach (Anthony Streete) cares about the style of football that we play.”
In 2013 Club Sando, which boasts a number of former Pro League players, etched themselves into history, becoming the first second tier team of the T&T to reach the Toyota Classic Final but went under 2-0 against W Connection in the title match.
During his address, Skeene noted that paramount in the mind of the league is that clubs are able to honour players’ contracts and he knows that Club Sando will bring value and credibility to the Pro League which has been resilient and has an indomitable desire to make professional football sustainable and viable in the long term.
