Blake: Couva venue is safer bet; P/League postponement after Hasely Crawford power outage

DIRECTV W Connection cut two-time TT Pro League champions and current leaders Central FC’s advantage atop the standings to one point last night. But it was not until the following day that they received confirmation of their latest three point haul, after their encounter with Club Sando ended in the 88th minute due to a power outage at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

The “Savonetta Boys” led 3-1 at that point, thanks to a hat-trick by 21 year-old Grenada international striker Jamal Charles, before referee Crystal Sobers brought proceedings to a halt after complaints by Sando coach Angus Eve.

Photo: W Connection striker Jamal Charles (right) dances around Club Sando goalkeeper Kelvin Henry during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. (Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Photo: W Connection striker Jamal Charles (right) dances around Club Sando goalkeeper Kelvin Henry during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)

Eve subsequently agreed to conceded the points to Connection rather than play the remaining time at a later date.

Incidentally, it is not the first time that Sando found themselves in this situation this season, after their opening game against San Juan Jabloteh was also interrupted due to a power outage at the Mahaica Oval on September 30.

Sando trailed 1-0 on that occasion and could not change the score when the two clubs completed the final 42 minutes, four days later. There will be no need to revisit their fixture with Connection, though, as Eve accepted defeat.

It means that only the second game of yesterday’s double header, Central FC versus Defence Force, will have to be played at a later date.

SPORTT facility manager Anthony Blake explained that his technicians switched off the lights at the stadium as a precautionary measure due to a blown T&TEC fuse in the area.

“The report that I have from my technical team in the stadium is that there was a blown fuse, one of the fuses that TTEC supplies,” Blake told Wired868. “So what happened is that one of the fuses on the supply line just outside the St John’s facility blew. And that’s what caused the interruption.

Photo: Club Sando midfielder Kemuel Rivers (right) and W Connection winger Shaquille Bertrand chase a loose ball during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. (Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Photo: Club Sando midfielder Kemuel Rivers (right) and W Connection winger Shaquille Bertrand chase a loose ball during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)

“TTEC were contacted. They came and they fixed it and power was restored. At that time, the match commissioner decided not to continue with the game and so on.”

Blake, who previously insisted that the 35 year-old stadium is in dire need of an overhaul, maintained that the power outage was not the fault of the ageing facility on this occasion.

“There were two [previous] times we had a power outage,” said Blake. “There was the St Vincent [World Cup qualifier in March 2016] and we had an outage just before [the November 2015 World Cup qualifier against the US].

“The second one had to do with one of the main breakers in the stadium blowing.”


Blake missed out the National Super League showdown between Prisons FC and QPCC, which was also in late 2015.

The Hasely Crawford Stadium relies on power from TTEC’s supply lines for Pro League matches while generator power is used for international games. So, with four home games still to be played in the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, is the facility manager confident that the 23,000 capacity venue is up to the task?

Photo: The Port of Spain National Stadium on 19 November 1989 during World Cup qualifying action between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.
Photo: The Port of Spain National Stadium on 19 November 1989 during World Cup qualifying action between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.

Or is it that the national stadium is now too unreliable to host events of that magnitude?

“I wouldn’t to be so harsh as to use the word ‘unreliable’ but we have to be realistic,” said Blake. “The infrastructure at the national stadium is in excess of 40 years. It was constructed in the 70s and the same plumbing, electrical infrastructure and generator infrastructure [it had then] is what exists today.

“There has really been a lack of what I call capital asset replacement because every asset has a life cycle. And after the life cycle of that asset passes—for example the life cycle of the generators is twelve years—it needs to be changed out.”

Blake suggested that the best time to begin any infrastructural work on the Port of Spain venue will be at the conclusion of Trinidad and Tobago’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Ministry of Sport and Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT), he said, have already hired consultants to provide detailed estimates on the various sporting facilities across to country to ascertain how many architectural upgrades are actually needed. And, of course, the cost of repairs will not be small.

Blake said the Ministry of Sport is actively looking for a source of funding.

Photo: Club Sando forward Akeem Roach (right) is watched closely by W Connection defender Jelani Peters during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. (Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Photo: Club Sando forward Akeem Roach (right) is watched closely by W Connection defender Jelani Peters during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)

“The level of capital replacement that we will need in the Hasely Crawford Stadium, given the current economic challenge, is one that the Government and Cabinet will have to make the decision as to where that finance is going to come from,” he said. “Because it’s not a piecemeal amount of money. But what I can tell you is that SPORTT and the Ministry [of Sport] have done what we call conditional assessment on all the sporting facilities.

“We have a new Permanent Secretary who started this week also and this is one of the first things she has spoken about in terms of the things that we want to push for funding.”

Blake conceded that the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, which recently hosted the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup playoffs between Haiti, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, is the safest bet at present.

However, the Ato Boldon Stadium holds just 10,000 patrons—less than half of the Hasely Crawford Stadium’s capacity.

“If I were to put on an engineering hat now, the safer option would be to play the games at Ato Boldon Stadium,” said Blake, “because the Ato Boldon Stadium is a newer stadia and the life cycle in terms of the assets and the wear and tear is not as bad as the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Photo: Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Khaleem Hyland (second from right) gestures to fans after Joevin Jones' second goal against Guatemala during Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying action at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain on Friday 2 September 2016. Both teams played to a 2-2 draw. (Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868
Photo: Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Khaleem Hyland (second from right) gestures to fans after Joevin Jones’ second goal against Guatemala during Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying action at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain on Friday 2 September 2016.
Both teams played to a 2-2 draw.
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868

“But we try to meet the stakeholder requirements in terms of what the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) needs. We know that the national team prefers to play at the national stadium so we try to do our best to give them as much as an advantage as we can.

“Based on the normal attendance of a World Cup qualifier, we will get at least 15,000 people on a bad day… And the maximum capacity at any one of the other stadia is about 10,000.”

Will last night’s power outage be the last such occurrence in 2017?

Blake was not prepared to make empty promises to the football population.

“It is difficult to say that current will never go at the Hasely Crawford Stadium because at the end of the day we depend on a supply of electricity from T&TEC [and] transformers will blow, circuits will be overloaded and that kind of stuff. And that’s why for the major level events, we take the priority of putting in generators and having the standby crews and the technical teams there to ensure that the system is full proof.

Photo: Club Sando attacker Keron Cornwall (left) buries the ball past W Connection custodian Terrence Clarke during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. (Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Photo: Club Sando attacker Keron Cornwall (left) buries the ball past W Connection custodian Terrence Clarke during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)

“I will not try to sell the population dreams in the sense that nothing at all can go wrong. But what I can assure them is that everything is being done to mitigate circumstances like this from happening in the future.”

Grenadian striker, Charles, was unlikely to be too disappointed at his outing in the Hasely Crawford Stadium yesterday, as he grabbed the fifth hattrick of the 2016/17 season.

Club Sando did most of the early running through the likes of winger Keron Cornwall and midfield captain Akeem Humphrey. However, the “Savonetta Boys” soon found their rhythm and Charles headed home from close range in the 30th minute after some unselfish play by the nippy Shaquille Bertrand on the left side of the penalty area.

Connection had a 2-0 advantage by halftime but their lead was halved by a 51st minute Cornwall item. And, with the game very much in the balance, the lanky Charles grabbed his hattrick as he rounded goalkeeper Kelvin Henry to tap home in the 73rd minute after another Bertrand assist.

It was the first treble this season that was not scored against table proppers, Point Fortin Civic.

(Teams)

Club Sando (3-4-2-1): 34.Kelvin Henry (GK); 18.Trevin Latapy, 19.Leslie Joel Russell, 29.Keithy Simpson (16.Anderson Toussaint 46); 23.Nicholas Thomas, 27.Jayson Joseph, 7.Akeem Humphrey (captain), 6.Kemuel Rivers; 9.Keron Cornwall, 11.Joel Kevin Lewis (8.Kevon Piper 46); 10.Shaquille Holder (13.Akeem Roach 46).

Unused Substitutes: 33.Alexei Julien (GK), 5.Nical Stephens, 12.Michael Basdeo, 17.Jared London.

Coach: Angus Eve

W Connection (4-2-3-1): 1.Terrence Lewis (GK); 30.Shaquille John, 3.Gerard Williams (captain), 27.Jelani Peters, 2.Kurt Frederick; 8.Briel Thomas, 23.Kevon Goddard; 11.Neil Benjamin Jr (10.Dimitrie Apai 70), 46.Anfernee Frederick (14.Andre Toussaint 70), 26.Shaquille Bertrand; 20.Jamal Charles (37.Daniel Diaz 81).

Unused Substitutes: 18.Julani Archibald (GK), 21.Ronnell Paul, 28.Mickell Charles, 43.Shirvone St Prix.

Coach: Stuart Charles-Fevrier

Referee: Crystal Sobers

Photo: W Connection midfielder Briel Thomas (centre) and Club Sando defender Leslie Joel Russell (left) contest the ball during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. (Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Photo: W Connection midfielder Briel Thomas (centre) and Club Sando defender Leslie Joel Russell (left) contest the ball during Pro League action on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)

Pro League results

(Friday 6 January)

St Ann’s Rangers 5 (Micah Lansiquot 11, Dylon King 14, 76, Jameel Antoine 37, Shakiyl Phillip 85), Ma Pau Stars 3 (Jerrel Britto 43, 87, Hayden Tinto 60) at Barataria;

San Juan Jabloteh 1 (Josiah Trimmingham 64), Morvant Caledonia Utd 0 at Barataria;

(Saturday 7 January)

Police FC 5 (Elijah Belgrave 6, Jameel Perry 32, 65, 69, Kareem Freitas 43), Point Fortin Civic 0 at Larry Gomes Stadium;

(Tuesday 10 January)

Club Sando 1 (Keron Cornwall 50), W Connection 3 (Jamal Charles 30, 43, 73) at Hasely Crawford Stadium;

Photo: Club Sando midfielder Kemuel Rivers (right) tries to tame an awkwardly bouncing ball during Pro League action against W Connection on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. (Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Photo: Club Sando midfielder Kemuel Rivers (right) tries to tame an awkwardly bouncing ball during Pro League action against W Connection on 10 January 2017 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)

Upcoming fixtures

(Friday 13 January)

St Ann’s Rangers v Point Fortin Civic, 6pm, Hasely Crawford Stadium;

Defence Force v W Connection, 8pm, Hasely Crawford Stadium;

(Saturday 14 January)

Central FC v Ma Pau Stars, 3.30pm, Larry Gomes Stadium;

Morvant Caledonia Utd v Club Sando, 5pm, Barataria Recreation Ground;

San Juan Jabloteh v Police FC, 7pm, Barataria Recreation Ground;

Photo: St Ann's Rangers attacker Dylon King (left) tries to outpace Police FC defender Dillon Kirton during Pro League action at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on 20 December 2016. (Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)
Photo: St Ann’s Rangers attacker Dylon King (left) tries to outpace Police FC defender Dillon Kirton during Pro League action at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on 20 December 2016.
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)

Standings (Tabulated as Won-Drawn-Lost-Goals For-Goals Against-Points)

Central FC            12-10-2-0-26-11-32

W Connection     13-10-1-2-39-12-31

S/Juan Jabloteh 13-7-2-4-22-16-23

Defence Force     12-6-1-5-20-18-19

Ma Pau Stars       13-5-3-5-25-25-18

Club Sando           13-4-2-7-20-25-14

Police FC                13-4-4-5-29-23-16

S/A Rangers         13-4-3-6-19-23-15

M’vt Caledonia    13-2-4-7-17-24-10

Point Fortin          13-0-2-11-1050-2

More from Wired868
TTFA outlaws Toda-World FA and controversial ex-national youth coach, Marcelle

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has officially outlawed former national youth coach Terrence Marcelle and his club, Toda-World Read more

TTFA apologises to ticketed fans turned away from Canada match, promises free entry to Jamaica friendly

It turns out that the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-20 Team were not the only party unprepared for last Read more

Dear Editor: Eve’s renewal shows Normalisation Committee is arrogant and deceitful to the end

“[…] I have no problem with Angus Eve being given an extension. Clearly, he may have had to work the Read more

T&T coach, Eve, gets two-year contract extension; Hadad: “we’re excited for the future!”

Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach Angus Eve will lead the Soca Warriors into the 2026 FIFA Read more

Love and Football 23: Molino and T&T football stars deliver Christmas cheer

Love and Football, a charity football match established by Trinidad and Tobago football stars Kevin Molino and Sheldon Bateau in Read more

Presentation’s Duhrell Young: “I’m really energetic and always positive!”

“Put in the work when you train and even on your off days, put in the work!” Presentation College (San Read more

About Roneil Walcott

Roneil Walcott is an avid sports fan and freelance reporter with a BA in Mass Communication from COSTAATT. Roneil is a former Harvard and St Mary's College cricketer who once had lofty aspirations of bringing joy to sport fans with the West Indies team. Now, his mission is to keep them on the edge of their seats with sharp commentary from off the playing field.

Check Also

TTFA outlaws Toda-World FA and controversial ex-national youth coach, Marcelle

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has officially outlawed former national youth coach Terrence …

22 comments

  1. Didn’t we have this convo Lasana…some months ago? At least the football people said it

  2. Relic ! They need to smash down and rebuild

  3. Yup. The national stadium is a real rundown venue. The seats in the uncovered stands are worn and shaky. Spending hours in a seat guaranteed to leave you with back problems. And you don’t want to drink beers because the prospect of having to face the bathroom is a nightmare. And as for the electricity supply it has been very unreliable here in the west. Over the last couple of years I find the power outages in Diego especially have become more frequent. Don’t know if it coincided with shutting down powergen. But that needs to be looked at.

  4. 4 Stadia in T&T and only one good to play…steupse…u and these late night posts eh

  5. Alana Morton and Rose-Marie Ingrid Lemessy-Forde, this is another part of the city that needs a makeover!

    • Lol. Is only one me inno! But yes the HCNS has aged. It’s been around for about, what… 40 years or more? And maintenance is in spurts, not consistent. But last night in the Senate, Minister of Sports indicated that they about ready to roll out a plan for maintenance and management so we will see….

    • Yes… I always feel more assured when a politician says he is “ready to roll out a plan…” ?? ?

    • They have started spending some money. They upgraded the practice field and they refurbishing the gym facilities. I also saw lights on the practice field were installed. But the main stadium need many millions if they want to continue calling that the “National Stadium” . They really let it go down the drain

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.