Whoever said that ‘victory is sweet’ knew what they were talking about. I say this because I found that out on Sunday, April 22nd, the day Harbour View were officially declared winners of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL).
Just picture a stadium with fans dressed to celebrate, but before they could do that they would have to wait ninety minutes for the match against Village to end, and end it did, with Harbour View coming out as the victors, a good start, to a night of pure celebrations and ‘full-joyment’, as was the word used to describe the celebrations by the fans. The match finished (3-0), the fans were informed by an announcer to stay in their seats until the presentations were over, but as soon as the Wray and Nephew tunnel for the players to walk through came out, people were on the field jumping up and down.
Of course, with myself being a Harbour View fan, I too had to be on that field. When I got unto the field, I saw the trophy being carried to the platform that was put out on the field, while the plastic tunnel had just finished receiving air.
As the players entered unto the field, shouts of “TROPHY, TROPHY” could be heard echoing throughout the stadium, signaling the presence of the Wray and Nephew NPL trophy. When the players finally reached the platform, Jamaica Football Federation President Crenston Boxhill presented the trophy to Captain of the team Lovell Palmer.
After the trophy was presented to the team, it was raised high into the air so everyone could see, and balloons were set free to fly away, signaling the height of the team and fans’ relief, that the trophy is where it should be.
The Celebration Begins
Being a first experience for me I thought that the celebrations were going to be wrapping up after the presentation of the trophy but I was very wrong, in fact I was told by someone that the celebrations were just commencing. After a few minutes the field was empty and the people had moved around to the other side of the stadium behind the changing rooms.
The celebrations kicked off with various performances by dancehall artiste ‘Erup’ and a few of the members from the ‘Heart o’ Love’ family. Erup did not disappoint the fans as he received numerous cheers from fans. After Erup and his ‘clan’ had delivered their final respects to the Harbour View team, the ‘uptown’ selector ‘Supa Hype’ treated the fans to a variation of musical selections.
The party was great and by the look on the faces of the fans I could tell that they enjoyed every minute of it, I know I did.
