Patrick takes on Spanish Town Police project

With one eye firmly fixed on securing a swift return to the Jamaica Premier League (JPL), newly appointed Spanish Town Police FC head coach Anthony Patrick says youth development will be at the heart of the club's rebuilding process.

Spanish Town Police FC, who made their first-ever appearance in the JPL this season, were relegated after finishing at the bottom of the standings with 26 points from 39 matches.

Patrick, one of Jamaica's most experienced football coaches, has built a reputation for developing young talent throughout his career. His successful spells at Bridgeport High School and St Catherine High School yielded multiple schoolboy football titles, while his work at the senior level has also earned widespread praise.

Most recently, Patrick guided Racing United to their first-ever playoff appearance in the JPL. However, after leading the Gregory Park-based club from the St Catherine Division Two League all the way to the top flight, his contract was not renewed at the end of the season.

Patrick has signed a three-year contract with Spanish Town Police FC and is eager to begin a new chapter focused on nurturing young players.

"They have been asking me to take this job for about a month and a half and they said that they want to go in a different direction and deal with some youngsters and the youngsters are very important to me," said Patrick. 

"Most of my success is coaching youngsters because when I had my big run at Waterhouse in the 2013-2014 season, it was the youngsters that I had there that did the job for the team and they continued at the high level. That is where my passion is, which is elevating the youths and helping them to move further in their careers, and so that is why I really thought about taking this one and I said yes to the job," he said.

Patrick noted that earning promotion back to the Premier League will not be an easy task, but he stated that the club has a solid foundation of young talent to build upon.

"It is not easy for us to get back into the Premier League but it is all about building and getting the youngsters to commit and buy into what we are doing there," he said.

"There are a lot of quality youngsters here. We have players from Old Harbour, Vere Technical and Glenmuir, so that is where they are looking and that is why I took the job."