BFA chief hails competitive season across divisions

Barbados Football Association (BFA) president Randy Harris has given high marks to the 2026 domestic season.

With the Premier League season now complete and battles continuing in the Champions Cup and Divisions One and Two, Harris told Barbados TODAY the campaign had largely met the association’s expectations.

He expressed satisfaction with the Premier League season, which was won by Weymouth Wales for a fifth straight time, with the exception of one game.

“The season started off very competitively, then we had a lull where the top was competitive and the bottom was competitive, but I’m quite happy with the way that things went. I think the only thing that bothers me as the president of the BFA is that we had one team turning up not with a full complement of players and they were beaten 23-0. 

“I don’t think that it’s good for the game and of course we’ll be writing to the club to find out exactly what went on there, but all in all, the season was quite exciting,” Harris said

He also praised the Division One campaign, describing the island’s second-tier competition as “always competitive.”

“It is a fight. They’re playing on open grounds and you know there’s more support from the communities, but even at this stage we can’t really predict a good winner,” he stated. 

“Things have been going well there and we expect that later on we will play some of the key games here at the Technical Center in Wildey.”

The BFA’s Champions Cup knockout competition is also underway and will continue to play alongside the FIFA World Cup, Harris said.

“We’re going full out. As you know, we have Crop Over coming up shortly, then we have the Prime Minister’s Cup, which is the cream of the football here in Barbados, so we are going to complete the season,” he declared.

Harris also maintained that the local Premier League is being seen in a positive light around the region. 

He believes this is largely due to games being available to view on FIFA+.

With a number of non-nationals featuring in the Premiership this year including Golden Boot winner Kirtney Franklyn of St Vincent and the Grenadines, several coaches and managers widely expect their numbers to increase next season. 

Those sentiments have also been echoed by Harris.

“Well, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to at least one of the players from St Vincent and the Grenadines who is here in Barbados, and he has really praised the quality of the league and really enjoyed playing and mixing with the Bajans in our league.

“I expect that it will spread even further, because our league is played outside of most of the other leagues in the Caribbean. This gives footballers from other countries the opportunity to participate here in this lovely island,” he said.

The FIFA Council member and Concacaf vice-president will leave the island on Tuesday to attend the World Cup finals. 

“I’m leaving on Tuesday and I won’t be back until July 20. I expect to have a very enjoyable time watching the best football in the world and the best players in the world, and I think that everything will be a really joyous occasion for anybody who has the opportunity to see the World Cup in this region,” Harris said.

(KH)