‘We will stay’ - Coach believes in Humble Lion rebirth

Davion Meggo, head coach of Humble Lion, says his main focus this season is ensuring the Clarendon-based club remains in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) at the end of the campaign.

Humble Lion return to the JPL this season after suffering relegation at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

Meggo said the club’s primary objective is to avoid another demotion while gradually improving its performances throughout the season.

“The mandate for the club this year is to stay in the league and not go back down. Based on what I have seen from the players and players that we have brought in the offseason, I know that we will stay in the league and as we go, we will take it game by game and we will see what will happens at the end of the day,” Meggo said.

He added that while there has been excitement within the community about Humble Lion’s return to the top flight, some supporters had hoped to see the club make more high-profile signings.

“The community is happy and the community is happy that the team is returning to the big league but they would have liked to see more big signings from the club but we are not there yet in terms of the resources to make those big-money signings,” he said.

Meggo also said the club will use the opportunity to give several talented young players their first taste of top-flight football.

“However, we have a lot of talented youngsters that have never gotten a chance to play in the league, so this is an opportunity for the team to make a name for themselves in the Premier League this season,” he said.

Humble Lion have also added experience to their squad, with Jevon Smith, Jamar Mullings and Suejay Graham among the players recruited during the offseason.

Humble Lion, who play their home matches at the Effortville Community Centre in Clarendon, will begin their JPL campaign today against Tivoli Gardens at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex, starting at 3:30 p.m.

Meggo said he is pleased with the team’s preparations and believes they are ready for the challenge.

“We are feeling very confident and we are feeling very positive about this opening game. We are excited to be returning to the Jamaica Premier League competition,” he said.

“Our preparations have gone well since we have qualified for the Premier League. We have made a number of additions to our team and we have had players who are interested in joining our team, but in our recruitment we have to be strategic in the way we recruit and about how we go about recruiting, but so far, the preparations have gone well,” said Meggo.