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The Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division clash between St Anthony’s College and Signal Hill Secondary, scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, has been postponed until Monday 4 November.
SSFL general secretary Azaad Khan advised stakeholders of the change today, via an email. Wired868 understands that Signal Hill were unable to get a flight to Trinidad to play tomorrow.
Photo: Ramsey Prentice/ Wired868
The fixture change is the 12th time this season that a match has been postponed. Four of those rescheduled games will now kick off after the closing date of the season.
Almost certainly, relegation-threatened Premier Division teams and their supporters would be left waiting—perhaps even as long as weeks after the official close of the season—to discover their fate.
Three matches were postponed due to rained out venues (twice in St Augustine and once at St Anthony’s) while Naparima College got a postponement due to a school activity, Malick Secondary had one because a technical staff member fell seriously ill, and a match between Speyside High and Signal Hill was postponed because of a bizarre argument between the match referee and his assistants.
However, six matches, or exactly half of the postponements, were due to difficulties in getting bookings to travel between the two islands.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
The SSFL, headed by president Merere Gonzales, helps schools with airfare to cross the seabridge. However, that money is not handed over until near the date of the fixture itself or after the match.
The schools’ body does not make bookings in advance for its participants and leaves that aspect entirely up to the teams—many of whom lack the financial wherewithal to purchase tickets early.
Signal Hill, who are 12th in the 16 team standings, have three games after the final match day while 14th place Speyside have two.
The three bottom teams after all fixtures are completed will be relegated to their respective Championship Division.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868
At present, the three schools in the relegation zone are: Speyside High (9 points from 11 games), Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School (7 points from 13 games), and East Mucurapo Secondary (6 points from 12 games).
2024 SSFL Premier Division
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Fatima | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 50 | 11 | 39 | 38 |
| 2 |  Presentation | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 10 | 23 | 35 |
| 3 |  St Anthony's | 15 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 38 | 19 | 19 | 33 |
| 4 |  St Benedict's | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 16 | 12 | 29 |
| 5 |  Arima North | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 26 | 14 | 12 | 24 |
| 6 |  QRC | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 24 |
| 7 |  Naparima | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 22 |
| 8 |  San Juan | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 28 | 27 | 1 | 22 |
| 9 |  Signal Hill | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 26 | 28 | -2 | 21 |
| 10 |  Malick | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 30 | 32 | -2 | 20 |
| 11 |  St Mary's | 15 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 29 | -12 | 16 |
| 12 |  St Augustine | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 34 | -23 | 15 |
| 13 |  Trinity East | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 20 | 30 | -10 | 13 |
| 14 |  Speyside | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 21 | 34 | -13 | 12 |
| 15 |  Mucurapo | 15 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 14 | 27 | -13 | 12 |
| 16 |  Miracle Ministries | 15 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 51 | -43 | 7 |
Premier Division Match Day 14
(Tue 29 Oct)
Arima North Secondary v Fatima College, 3.30pm, Arima Velodrome;
Naparima College v San Juan North, 3.30pm, Lewis Street;
East Mucurapo Secondary v Queen’s Royal College, 3.30pm, Mucurapo Road;
Malick Secondary v St Augustine Secondary, 3.30pm, Serpentine Road;
Speyside High v St Mary’s College, 3.30pm, Speyside;
St Benedict’s College v Miracle Ministries PHS, 3.30pm, Mahaica Sporting Complex;
Trinity College East v Presentation (San F’do), 3.30pm, Trincity;
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Match Day Fifteen
(Fri 1 Nov)
Presentation (San F’do) v Naparima College, 3.30pm, Mannie Ramjohn Stadium;
Fatima College v Malick Secondary, 3.30pm, Mucurapo Road;
St Mary’s College v St Benedict’s College, 3.30pm, Serpentine Road;
San Juan North v St Anthony’s College, 3.30pm, Bourg Mulatrasse;
Arima North Secondary v Speyside High, 3.30pm, Arima Velodrome;
Miracle Ministries PHS v Trinity College East, 3.30pm, Edinburgh 500;
Signal Hill Secondary v East Mucurapo Secondary, 3.30pm, Signal Hill;
St Augustine Secondary v Queen’s Royal College, 3.30pm, Warren Street;
Rescheduled Matches
(Mon 4 Nov)
St Anthony’s College v Signal Hill Secondary, 3.30pm, Westmoorings;
(Thu 7 Nov)
Speyside High v Signal Hill Secondary, 3.30pm, Speyside;
(TBA)
East Mucurapo Secondary v Speyside Secondary, 3.30pm, Mucurapo Road;
Signal Hill Secondary v Arima North Secondary, 3.30pm, Signal Hill.
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
