2009 TT Pro League

The 2009 TT Pro League season (known as the Digicel Pro League for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the TT Pro League, the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. A total of eleven teams contested the league, with San Juan Jabloteh the defending champions.^[1] The season began on 8 May, with Super Friday, and ended on 27 October. The format of the season was changed from each club playing three rounds to two rounds in the regular season to facilitate the national team with its attempt to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[2]

TT Pro League

Season	2009
Champions	Joe Public 2nd Pro League title 3rd T&T title
CFU Club Championship	San Juan Jabloteh Joe Public
Matches played	125
Goals scored	372 (2.98 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kerry Baptiste (35 goals)
Biggest home win	W Connection 8–0 Police (4 September 2009)
Biggest away win	Police 0–7 Joe Public (29 August 2009)
Highest scoring	Caledonia AIA 7–2 Police (18 August 2009) Jabloteh 5–4 Defence Force (15 October 2009)
← 2008 2010–11 →

Police were re-admitted into the league following a one-year absence, whereas FC South End were admitted as a new club.^[3] However, North East Stars withdrew siting the state of their home ground, Sangre Grande Recreational Ground, for the past few years as the cause to sit out the season.^[4] The Sangre Grande Boys stated that they intend to return to the league for 2010. Furthermore, Caledonia AIA changed the name of the club to Caledonia AIA of Morvant/Laventille.

The first goal of the season was scored by Caledonia AIA's Walter Moore against Joe Public in the second minute of the first game on 8 May.^[5] Kendall Velox of Caledonia AIA scored the first hat-trick of the season against Police on 23 May. Kerry Baptiste won the Golden Boot by providing 35 goals for Joe Public on their way to becoming league champions.^[6]

On 12 September, Joe Public used a 2–1 win over W Connection at Manny Ramjohn Stadium to clinch the regular season crown on 41 points. San Juan Jabloteh, Caledonia AIA, W Connection, Ma Pau, and Defence Force all qualified for the Big Six. On 24 October, Joe Public claimed the league title with a 1–1 draw against Caledonia AIA. The achievement marked their second Pro League title with the first coming in the 2006 season.^[1] Having finished as the league champion, Joe Public qualified for the 2010 CFU Club Championship. By finishing runners-up in the league, San Juan Jabloteh also qualified for the CFU Club Championship.

With an 8–0 loss to W Connection on 1 September, Police finished bottom in the league. The club had a disappointing campaign having only recorded nine points with a -48 goal difference. This marked the first season in which Tobago United did not finish the league season bottom of the table. Furthermore, on 8 January 2010, United Petrotrin announced that they had pulled the club from the Pro League.^[7]

Changes from the 2008 season

The following changes were made since the 2008 season:

• The TT Pro League signed a sponsorship deal with Digicel and is now known as the Digicel Pro League.^[8]
• The number of rounds in the regular season were reduced from three to two to compensate the national team's attempt to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[2]
• Club rosters were expanded from 25 to 35 players to provide clubs relief during the league season that involved 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, CONCACAF Champions League, and other domestic fixtures.^[9]
• There were a number of changes to the clubs competing in the 2009 season.
  • FC South End, a new club based in Point Fortin were admitted into the league.
  • North East Stars withdrew from the league and will return in 2010.^[10]
  • Police were re-admitted after sitting out the 2008 season.^[3]
  • Caledonia AIA changed the name of the club to Caledonia AIA of Morvant/Laventille.
  • The Trinidad and Tobago U20 national team were admitted to the Pro League to prepare for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, but eventually did not enter.^[11]
  • Applications for admission by Marabella Flames, 1976 Phoenix, and St. Clair's Coaching School to join the Pro League were rejected.^[12]
• The Pro Bowl was shifted to close off the 2009 calendar in November and December with new branding partner Digicel following a pullout by former sponsors Courts Trinidad and Tobago Limited.
• A new knockout tournament named the Lucozade Sport Goal Shield took place in May and June with a unique prize money system.^[13] As a result, Lucozade Sport will no longer sponsor the Big Six.

Teams

Team summaries

Caledonia

Defence

Joe Public

Ma Pau

Police

Jabloteh

South End

Rangers

Tobago Utd

Petrotrin

W Connection

Location of the 2009 TT Pro League teams

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Manager	Captain
Caledonia AIA	Morvant/Laventille	Larry Gomes Stadium	10,000	Jamaal Shabazz	Charles Pollard
Defence Force	Chaguaramas	Hasely Crawford Stadium	27,000	Ross Russell	Corey Rivers
FC South End	Point Fortin	Manny Ramjohn Stadium	10,000	Leroy DeLeon	Anthony Rougier
Joe Public	Arouca	Marvin Lee Stadium	6,000	Derek King	Kerry Baptiste
Ma Pau	Woodbrook	Hasely Crawford Stadium	27,000	Michael McComie	Lyndon Andrews
Police	Saint James	Hasely Crawford Stadium	27,000	Richard De Coteau	Keron Archie
San Juan Jabloteh	San Juan	Hasely Crawford Stadium	27,000	Earl Jean	Marvin Oliver
St. Ann's Rangers	San Juan	Hasely Crawford Stadium	27,000	Anthony Streete	Errol McFarlane
Tobago United	Bacolet	Dwight Yorke Stadium	7,500	Peter Granville	Kayode McKinnon
United Petrotrin	Pointe-à-Pierre	Palo Seco Velodrome	10,000	Marcos Tinoco	Cyd Gray
W Connection	Point Lisas	Manny Ramjohn Stadium	10,000	Stuart Charles-Fevrier	Elijah Joseph

Player transfers

Further information: List of Trinidadian football transfers 2009

Managerial changes

Main article: List of TT Pro League managers

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
Police	Re-admitted team				Richard De Coteau	29 January 2009[14]	Pre-season
FC South End	Expansion team				Leroy DeLeon	9 May 2009	Pre-season
United Petrotrin	Leon Carpette	End of caretaker contract	18 December 2008[15]	6th (2008)	Marcos Tinoco	21 February 2009[16]	Pre-season
Defence Force	Kerry Jamerson	Sacked	18 December 2008	8th (2008)	Ross Russell	8 April 2009[17]	Pre-season
Ma Pau	Ronald La Forest	Sacked	17 January 2009[18]	9th (2008)	Ubirajara Veiga Da Silva	21 January 2009[19]	Pre-season
Ma Pau	Ubirajara Veiga Da Silva	Mutual consent	2 April 2009[20]	9th (2008)	Michael McComie	8 April 2009[21]	Pre-season
San Juan Jabloteh	Terry Fenwick	Resigned	17 April 2009[22]	1st (2008)	Earl Jean	18 April 2009[23]	Pre-season
San Juan Jabloteh	Earl Jean	Sacked	26 November 2009[24]	2nd	Terry Fenwick	26 November 2009[25]	Post-season

Regular season

Competition table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Joe Public (A)	20	12	5	3	50	24	+26	41	Qualification for 2009 Pro League Big Six
2	Caledonia AIA (A)	20	13	1	6	49	30	+19	40
3	San Juan Jabloteh (A)	20	11	6	3	29	16	+13	39
4	W Connection (A)	20	9	7	4	36	17	+19	34
5	Ma Pau (A)	20	10	4	6	31	21	+10	34
6	Defence Force (A)	20	9	5	6	36	26	+10	32
7	United Petrotrin	20	7	9	4	32	21	+11	30	Team disbanded after season[a]
8	FC South End	20	4	4	12	15	36	−21	16
9	St. Ann's Rangers	20	4	3	13	22	46	−24	15
10	Tobago United	20	2	7	11	17	32	−15	13
11	Police	20	2	3	15	16	64	−48	9

Updated to match(es) played on 20 September 2009. Source: TT Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(A) Advance to a further round
Notes:

1. Following the season, United Petrotrin withdrew from the Pro League for the 2010–11 season.

Results

Home \ Away	CAL	DEF	SOE	JOE	MAP	POL	SJJ	RAN	TBU	UPE	WCO
Caledonia AIA		2–3	2–1	2–3	2–1	7–2	1–1	1–0	5–3	3–2	1–2
Defence Force	1–0		4–1	4–3	2–3	4–0	0–1	0–2	3–1	0–0	1–2
FC South End	0–2	0–2		0–2	1–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	0–3	1–4	1–1
Joe Public	2–3	3–3	1–0		2–1	2–0	4–0	3–0	3–1	1–1	2–2
Ma Pau	4–2	3–0	2–0	3–2		1–1	1–3	3–1	2–0	0–1	1–1
Police	2–6	1–5	0–0	0–7	1–0		3–4	1–2	2–1	0–3	0–1
San Juan Jabloteh	2–0	1–0	5–0	0–0	0–1	3–0		2–1	1–1	1–1	0–0
St. Ann's Rangers	0–6	2–3	0–2	3–5	0–2	3–3	1–0		1–1	1–4	0–3
Tobago United	0–1	0–0	2–2	0–3	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–1		0–0	0–0
United Petrotrin	0–1	1–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	4–0	1–1	2–4	3–0		2–5
W Connection	1–2	0–0	3–0	1–2	1–1	8–0	1–2	2–0	2–1	0–1

Updated to match(es) played on 20 September 2009. Source: TT Pro League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Pro League Big Six

Competition table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Joe Public (O)	5	3	2	0	9	4	+5	11
2	San Juan Jabloteh	5	3	1	1	10	9	+1	10
3	W Connection	5	2	3	0	4	1	+3	9
4	Caledonia AIA	5	2	1	2	5	4	+1	7
5	Ma Pau	5	1	1	3	5	6	−1	4
6	Defence Force	5	0	0	5	6	15	−9	0

Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2009. Source: TT Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(O) Play-off winners

Results

Round 1
Home team	Score	Away team
San Juan Jabloteh	5–4	Defence Force
Ma Pau	1–3	Joe Public
W Connection	1–0	Caledonia AIA

Round 2
Home team	Score	Away team
Caledonia AIA	1–0	Ma Pau
W Connection	2–0	Defence Force
Joe Public	3–1	San Juan Jabloteh

Round 3
Home team	Score	Away team
Defence Force	1–2	Joe Public
Caledonia AIA	1–2	San Juan Jabloteh
Ma Pau	0–0	W Connection

Round 4
Home team	Score	Away team
San Juan Jabloteh	1–1	W Connection
Ma Pau	4–1	Defence Force
Joe Public	1–1	Caledonia AIA

Round 5
Home team	Score	Away team
Defence Force	0–2	Caledonia AIA
Joe Public	0–0	W Connection
San Juan Jabloteh	1–0	Ma Pau

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Joe Public (C)	25	15	7	3	59	28	+31	52	2010 CFU Club Championship First round
2	San Juan Jabloteh	25	14	7	4	39	25	+14	49	2010 CFU Club Championship Second round
3	Caledonia AIA	25	15	2	8	54	34	+20	47
4	W Connection	25	11	10	4	40	18	+22	43
5	Ma Pau	25	11	5	9	36	27	+9	38
6	Defence Force	25	9	5	11	42	41	+1	32
7	United Petrotrin	20	7	9	4	32	21	+11	30	Team disbanded after season[a]
8	FC South End	20	4	4	12	15	36	−21	16
9	St. Ann's Rangers	20	4	3	13	22	46	−24	15
10	Tobago United	20	2	7	11	17	32	−15	13
11	Police	20	2	3	15	16	64	−48	9

Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2009. Source: TT Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Following the season, United Petrotrin withdrew from the Pro League for the 2010–11 season.

Positions by round

	Leader
	2010 CFU Club Championship Second round
	Qualification to 2009 Pro League Big Six
	Team disbanded after season

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for the tenth round of matches, but then postponed and played between rounds 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for round 16.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Joe Public	2	3	2	2	2	5	3	3	3	3	2	1	3	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
San Juan Jabloteh	4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	3	3	4	5	3	2	2	3	2	3	2	2	2
Caledonia AIA	8	10	7	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	2	1	2	2	3	2	4	3	3	2	3	2	3	3	3
W Connection	10	8	5	6	3	6	6	6	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	2	4	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Ma Pau	3	6	8	5	7	3	5	4	4	5	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	3	2	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Defence Force	1	2	4	7	5	7	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6
United Petrotrin	7	5	3	3	6	4	4	5	5	6	5	5	5	6	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7
FC South End		11	9	10	11	9	8	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	8	8	8	8	8
St. Ann's Rangers	6	7	9	9	8	9	7	7	9	9	9	10	10	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9
Tobago United	9	11	11	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10
Police	5	4	6	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11

Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2009. Source: TT Pro League

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Walter Moore for Caledonia AIA against Joe Public, (8 May 2009).^[5]
• Last goal of the season: Akim Armstrong for Caledonia AIA against Defence Force, (27 October 2009).^[26]
• First own goal of the season: Randy Harris (Police) for United Petrotrin, (19 May 2009).^[27]
• First penalty kick of the season: Reginald Payne (scored) for Tobago United against Ma Pau (9 May 2009).
• First hat-trick of the season: Kendall Velox (Caledonia AIA) against Police, 22', 40', 62' (23 May 2009).
• Most goals scored by one player in a match: 5 goals
  • Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public) against St. Ann's Rangers, 13', 41', 45', 78', 88' (21 July 2009).^[28]
• Widest winning margin: 8 goals
  • W Connection 8–0 Police (4 September 2009)^[29]
• Most goals in a match: 9 goals
  • Caledonia AIA 7–2 Police (18 August 2009)^[30]
  • San Juan Jabloteh 5–4 Defence Force (15 October 2009)^[31]
• Most goals in one half: 7 goals
  • San Juan Jabloteh v Defence Force (15 October 2009) 1–1 at half-time, 5–4 final.^[31]
• Most goals in one half by a single team: 5 goals
  • W Connection v Police (4 September 2009) 5–0 at half-time, 8–0 final.^[29]

Top scorers

See also: Top TT Pro League goal scorers by season

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[6]
1	Kerry Baptiste	Joe Public	35
2	Keyon Edwards	Caledonia AIA	16
3	Devorn Jorsling	Defence Force	13
4	Kevon Carter	Defence Force	11
5	Arnold Dwarika	United Petrotrin	10
	Jonathan Faña	W Connection	10
7	Anthony Wolfe	Ma Pau	9
8	Trevin Caesar	Ma Pau	8
	Kendall Velox	Caledonia AIA	8
10	Noel Williams	San Juan Jabloteh	7

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of TT Pro League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref(s)
Kendall Velox	Caledonia AIA	Police*	2–6	23 May 2009
Keyon Edwards	Caledonia AIA	St. Ann's Rangers*	0–6	16 June 2009	[32]
Keyon Edwards	Caledonia AIA*	Tobago United	5–3	23 June 2009	[33]
Kerry Baptiste5	Joe Public	St. Ann's Rangers*	3–5	21 July 2009	[28]
Kerry Baptiste	Joe Public	Defence Force*	4–3	4 August 2009	[34]
Anthony Wolfe	Ma Pau*	Caledonia AIA	4–2	14 August 2009	[35]
Aurtis Whitley	United Petrotrin	St. Ann's Rangers*	1–4	22 August 2009	[36]
Devorn Jorsling	Defence Force	Police*	1–5	22 August 2009	[37]
Devorn Jorsling	Defence Force	St. Ann's Rangers*	2–3	28 August 2009	[38]
Kerry Baptiste4	Joe Public	Police*	0–7	29 August 2009	[39]
Conrad Smith	Joe Public	Police*	0–7	29 August 2009	[39]
Andrei Pacheco	W Connection	United Petrotrin*	2–5	29 August 2009	[40]
Jonathan Faña4	W Connection*	Police	8–0	4 September 2009	[29]
Alusine Bangura	W Connection*	Police	8–0	4 September 2009	[29]
Richard Roy4	Defence Force	San Juan Jabloteh*	5–4	15 October 2009	[31]
Noel Williams4	San Juan Jabloteh*	Defence Force	5–4	15 October 2009	[41]

• * Home team score first in result
• ⁴ Player scored four goals
• ⁵ Player scored five goals

Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Nuru Abdallah Muhammad for Caledonia AIA against Joe Public, (8 May 2009).^[5]
• First red card of the season: Mark Leslie for Ma Pau against Tobago United, (9 May 2009).
• Most yellow cards in a single match: 6
  • W Connection 0–1 United Petrotrin – 2 for W Connection (Eder Gilmar Aras & Gerard Williams) and 4 for United Petrotrin (Cyd Gray, Lyndon Diaz, Ghymo Harper & Nigel Daniel) (23 June 2009)^[33]
  • Joe Public 1–1 United Petrotrin – 3 for Joe Public (Kerry Baptiste, Keyeno Thomas & Jason Springer) and 3 for United Petrotrin (Cyd Gray, Makan Hislop & Luis Andre Lima) (25 July 2009)^[42]
• Most red cards in a single match: 2
  • W Connection 0–1 United Petrotrin – 2 for W Connection (Eder Gilmar Arias & Marvin Phillip) (23 June 2009)^[33]
  • San Juan Jabloteh 3–0 Police – 1 for San Juan Jabloteh (Noel Williams) and 1 for Police (Devon Bristol) (3 July 2009)^[43]

Awards

Round awards

Round	Player of the Round	Round's Statline
Round One	Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public)	10 GP, 13 G, Joe Public 6-3-1 in Round One
Round Two	Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public)	10 GP, 22 G, Joe Public 6-2-2 in Round Two

Annual awards

The 2009 TT Pro League awards distribution took place on 7 April 2010, at Cascadia Hotel in St. Ann's, Trinidad, prior to the 2010–11 season.^[44]

Joe Public took home the majority of the league honours including Team of the Year. Eastern Lion Kerry Baptiste was named the league's Player of the Year for the first time in his career, by providing 35 league goals.^[45] Baptiste also received the Golden Boot and was named the Best Forward.^[6] Joe Public manager Derek King became the youngest manager in the Pro League to win the league championship and claimed the Manager of the Year.^[46] In addition, Joe Public's Alejandro Figueroa, Trent Noel, and Keyeno Thomas were named the league's Best Goalkeeper, Best Midfielder, and Best Defender respectively. The remaining team award was won by Caledonia AIA for the Most Disciplined Team of the Year. FIFA international referee, Neal Brizan, won the Referee of the Year for the third consecutive year, whereas Boris Punch won the Match Commissioner of the Year in back-to-back years.

Award	Winner
Player of the Year	Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public)
Manager of the Year	Derek King (Joe Public)
Best Goalkeeper	Alejandro Figueroa (Joe Public)
Best Defender	Keyeno Thomas (Joe Public)
Best Midfielder	Trent Noel (Joe Public)
Best Forward	Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public)
Golden Boot	Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public)
Team of the Year	Joe Public
Most Disciplined Team of the Year	Caledonia AIA
Referee of the Year	Neal Brizan
Assistant Referee of the Year	Ainsley Rochard
Match Commissioner of the Year	Boris Punch