Kieron Edwards, president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), has promised a smooth flow of traffic for patrons attending the second-round Concacaf World Cup qualifier between the T&T ‘Soca Warriors’ and the St Kitts & Nevis ‘Sugar Boys’ at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Friday (June 6). Kick-off is at 7.30 pm.
For the match, gates will be opened from 5 pm, and the traffic plans for the match will be explained. Edwards, speaking via telephone to Guardian Media Sports, first noted that the traffic issues which arose at T&T’s last match on home soil against Cuba at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Balmain, Couva on March 25, a second-leg Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary round playoff, were not mainly because of vehicular traffic for the match.
Back then many T&T supporters attending the match were stranded in traffic along the Sir Solomon Hochoy and only gained access to the venue close to half-time of the match.
The TTFA boss explained, “The issue wasn’t about not having plans in place at the Ato Boldon Stadium, but the situation back then came about with the Concacaf restrictions when it came to us (TTFA) selling tickets at the venue on the day of the match and the proximity of trying to do so to the match venue.
“So, with the one-way in and one-way out traffic flow, and then having tickets sold basically halfway through that, we created the issue there.”
Looking ahead to Friday’s match, Edwards noted that the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, is a bit different, where we have the tickets being sold out at the front of the venue close to the Jean Pierre Complex, which is customary, as well as having the original traffic plans in place, which would not be interfered with.
“This will allow for one-way traffic to flow from the parkway going right around the venue, so it will be a one-way entry point from the Lions Club to the main entrance going into the stadium, so that would ease up that situation as well as the VIP entrance, which is on the western side, which wouldn’t affect the normal patrons.
“And then there’s parking around the stadium for patrons, like the normal places they are accustomed to, like Movie Town and the usual different areas where patrons park.
Edwards noted, “We have also engaged the traffic wardens as well as the Ministry of Homeland Security via its minister, Roger Alexander, to make sure that we are putting things in place.
“We also have a site visit at the venue tomorrow (today) with the T&T Police Service to just make sure that everything is put in place to ensure a smooth flow on Friday because we already have put things in place which we will follow. So, I’m not seeing any issues when it comes to traffic at this game on Friday.”
Reflecting on the T&T team’s performances at the Unity Cup in England, where they went under to Jamaica 3-2 in the semifinals and 4-0 to four-time African Nations Cup champions Ghana, Edwards admitted the results didn’t go their way.
“I would say part of the main team that went to the Unity Cup was part of the team that will be selected to play in the World Cup game; the captain went there and a few senior players, but in general it was a team mostly of players who made their debuts on foreign soil, with a lot of players first time being coached under Dwight Yorke.
‘So, it was really, in terms of preparations, an opportunity for the local players who have been excelling in the local league, as stated by Coach Yorke, so in all, I think it was a good exercise for us.
“The first game against Jamaica, we played with more of our players that would play within this World Cup qualifying window, and I think that game was a hard loss for the team, but I think if anybody looks at the game, they will see the progression of the squad, so all in all, I think the trip was a good trip in terms of what we set out for.
‘Yes, the results didn’t go our way or in our favour, as we would have loved to play in the finals, but that last-ditch penalty really took the wind out of our sails a bit.”
“When you look at the second team playing in the third and fourth spot games, a lot of new faces within a different system were used as well. So, it was really for the coach an exercise in terms of seeing players and getting to know some of the players that he hasn’t seen as yet and also giving some of the guys the exposure,” said Edwards.
