Craig Levein was delighted that resurgent St Johnstone were able to mark 16-year-old Fran Franczak’s first start with a 1-0 victory over Hibernian.

The teenage midfielder became Saints’ youngest-ever player when he made his only previous appearance as a late sub away to the Hibees in September.

Levein pitched Franczak in at wing-back for the visit of Nick Montgomery’s in-form side and the manager watched the youngster deliver an accomplished display as Graham Carey’s second-half strike proved enough to lift Saints from 11th to eighth in the cinch Premiership.

“Fran’s performance didn’t surprise me,” said the Saints boss. “He’s been excellent in training, he’s been with the first-team squad since we came in.

“He’s competitive, he’s not a defensive player. He’s more of an attacker. He played that wing-back position like an attacker.

“He was super-cool in his head space, whatever he did. He didn’t get flummoxed or flustered at all.

“Everything that he did was really good. It was his starting debut and I asked the boys to try and make it a memorable one for him, and they certainly did.”

Levein – who took charge last month when Saints were bottom of the table – was pleased with the way his side secured their third win of his seven-game tenure, with Carey’s breakthrough following a misplaced pass from Dylan Levitt.

“We had quite a lot of control in the game, which was important in making opportunities,” he said.

“We scored one but Marsh (Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall) made four top, top saves. We scored one and defensively we were really good.”

Hibs failed to muster a shot on target as they slipped from fourth to sixth in the table and manager Montgomery rued the way his team’s threat was snuffed out by Saints.

“It was a disappointing performance in all,” he said. “I felt at half-time it would be a mistake that would probably result in a goal and we didn’t capitalise on the mistakes they made, especially in the first half.

“We had a couple of opportunities. That pitch was tough at times, people slipping over and missing the ball, but we didn’t deserve to win the game.

“Did we deserve to lose it? On reflection of the whole game, probably not. But we did, we lost the game, and at 1-0, you know they are going to fight for everything.

“What we didn’t have was enough going forward to create a real threat, and that sort of played into their hands.”

Liam Rosenior highlighted Hull’s “complete professionalism” after his side returned to the Sky Bet Championship top six with a resounding 3-0 win at home to Cardiff.

Aaron Connolly gave the Tigers a deserved 1-0 lead at half-time before Scott Twine and Ozan Tufan blew away the abject visitors after the restart.

Rosenior said: “The performance was probably similar to a lot of games we’ve played this season, but we had a ruthless side to us.

“It was a really pleasing day but we have to maintain this way of playing and in this vein of form.

“The first goal was really important – Aaron was in a perfect position – and then Scott Twine scores a free-kick and Ozan’s goal was beautiful.

“I really enjoyed the way we saw the game out. I wanted a clean sheet and it was complete professionalism.

“I always want more but the way we went 2-0 up in the second half and continued to press was magnificent.”

Hull, who claimed an important win at Middlesbrough in midweek, were excellent from the outset.

They could have been 2-0 up before Connolly scored a back-post tap-in off Liam Delap’s low cross on 32 minutes.

Cardiff manager Erol Brulet, so frustrated by his side’s timid defeat at home to Birmingham in midweek, will have demanded much more after the interval.

But Hull remained on the front foot, and doubled their lead after 56 minutes when Twine scored a perfect, curling free-kick from the edge of the penalty box.

Tufan underscored the hosts’ dominance three minutes later when he expertly controlled Tyler Morton’s reaching long ball before lobbing Jak Alnwick.

Rosenior said: “If you press and you work hard, good things happen. I think what epitomised that was Ozan’s performance.

“There’s a good feeling at the club between the players and the fans. There’s a lot of confidence at the club and I’m really happy with the way things are going.

“We’re a team. We win as a team and we lose as a team. For us to get to where we want to be, it has to be a team mentality and every single player does their job.

“I’m sure there’ll be more setbacks to come but the team are showing me a determination and resilience that I’m really happy with.”

Counterpart Brulet feels Cardiff, who have lost three of their last four games, are beginning to feel the pressure of expectation.

He said: “We saw the quality difference between the two teams.

“When you want to be in the play-off positions we have to show much, much more – we are far away from that (reaching the top six).

“We didn’t show anything. Maybe in the past I said we want to be around the play-offs, and maybe that was too much pressure on the players.

“I have to ask myself about that. Maybe it was too much for some of the players.

“I try to get the maximum from the team. Maybe I try to ask too much of the players too quickly.”

Brulet added: “You need to change inside the club or nothing will change today or tomorrow.

“I only have one year and I have to change the maximum of what I can do.

“Maybe we have to put our foot on the break at times. Everyone’s frustrated – me, the players and fans – but in this situation we all together.

“At the start of the season, everybody would accept that our target was to stay in the league, but I do not accept that myself.

“January is coming and the season is not finished yet.”

Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly saved a penalty to help his side play out a hard-fought goalless draw in difficult conditions at St Mirren.

The Scotland international parried away Mark O’Hara’s spot-kick four minutes after half-time, and despite the visitors having four one-on-one opportunities after surviving a close escape, they failed to find the net.

Motherwell’s winless run in the cinch Premiership extended to 14 games and they now occupy the relegation play-off position, while St Mirren dropped to fourth in the table below Hearts on goal difference.

Both teams made one change from their last outing. For the hosts, Keanu Baccus replaced Caolan Boyd-Munce, who failed to make the squad, while Harry Paton returned to the Well starting line-up with Jon Obika dropping to the bench.

Blustery conditions looked set to play a major factor in proceedings and they were evident as Georgie Gent’s cross in the early exchanges swung across the St Mirren penalty box and out for a throw-in.

Saints passed up a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock after 12 minutes when Thierry Small’s low cross broke for Greg Kiltie who sliced an effort that sailed inches too high.

Just minutes later, Kelly, who took the blame for St Johnstone’s goal at Fir Park last weekend, looked uncertain when tipping Jonah Ayunga’s innocuous looking header over the crossbar.

The wind was drastically impacting the quality on show, with neither side quite able to get to grips with the difficult conditions in the opening 45 minutes.

St Mirren were awarded a penalty four minutes after half-time when Stephen O’Donnell was adjudged to have handled Ayunga’s cross.

O’Hara stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick but he was denied as Kelly parried his poor effort away before the Steelmen defence scrambled the ball clear.

Motherwell had yet to work the Saints keeper, though they did have a rare glimpse of goal as Paton’s strike from outside the box flashed wide of the target.

Zach Hemming was finally called into action after 58 minutes as Blair Spittal’s free-kick found Gent unmarked inside the box but he could only head the ball into the grateful arms of the home keeper.

The game was beginning to open up and it took a good save from Kelly to turn Small’s curling shot round the post, before the visitors somehow failed to take advantage of two glorious chances to break the deadlock.

Mika Biereth skipped through the Buddies midfield and released Spittal, who twisted past Alex Gogic before somehow firing wide.

The Arsenal loanee was involved again a minute later after slipping the ball through to Callum Slattery, but the midfielder hit the deck under pressure from Gogic and saw his claims for a penalty dismissed following a VAR check.

Chasing an elusive victory, Motherwell began to look the much more likely to find an opener and it took some smart goalkeeping from Hemming to deny the onrushing Biereth, who had sprung the home offside trap.

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell introduced Theo Bair and Oli Shaw in search of a winner and Bair almost made an instant impact when he found himself bearing down on goal, only for his powerful shot to be kept out.

It was the fourth one-on-one opportunity for the away side and yet again they were unable to find the net as they had to settle for their fifth draw in seven league matches.

Head Coach of Jamaica’s Under-20 Reggae Boyz, John Wall, says senior professional minutes will be the main benchmark for the selection of his squad for the Concacaf Under-20 Qualifiers set for February 23-March 2, 2024 across five venues in Central America and the Caribbean.

Jamaica were drawn alongside Bermuda, Grenada and St. Kitts & Nevis in Group F of the qualifiers. That group will play at the SKNFA Technical Center in Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis.

“What I’m interested in is the long haul and figuring out how these players can become first team players for Jamaica,” said Wall at a Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) press conference on Thursday.

 “It’s been a process ever since March on a monthly basis in except July and September-November. In those months, it’s hard to get access to the players. We’re close to 80 players reviewed since March,” he said. We’re already pretty much fully operative and people are voluntarily scouting for us and providing reports so I’m pretty close to actually delivering the 60-man squad that will be the provisional list sent to Concacaf,” he added.

Wall then outlined that he is using the blueprint of the youth setups of Denmark and Uruguay for how he is selecting players for his squad, mentioning senior minutes played as the main benchmark for those teams.

“I’ve used Denmark and Uruguay as a benchmark. They’re pretty close in terms of size of the nation. Denmark’s U-21, and I’m taking two highest leagues, by October this year, has 21,885 senior professional minutes and a squad market value of 29 million Euros. Uruguay, who won the U-20 World Cup, 18,000+ and a squad value of 28 million Euros. How close is Jamaica to that on a global scale?” he said.

“For me, I have to look at senior professional minutes first and looking domestically, it’s a semi-professional league in JPL so that’s the closest we can get there. Globally, how close are the players to actually playing senior professional football? The margin now globally is that players are getting younger and younger, better educated and kind of pre-selected. Domestically, you’re looking at age groups that were hit the most by Covid and did not play too much at all so it’s been a race to the bottom depletion of the pool. Unfortunately, I cannot relate to schoolboy football and converting that to global football; it’s a different game,” he added.

Once the provisional squad is selected, Wall says the plan going forward is to get some friendlies and try to utilize as many players as possible leading into the qualifiers.

“Moving on, what we’re looking at is in January to play a friendly where we’ll utilize players from Jamaica and North America and furthermore, heading into February prior to the qualifiers, being on a camp and playing an added two more friendlies that are of a high quality so we will be prepared well for the qualifiers. Then we will be able to utilize an even bigger group of players,” he said.

“It’s been a gradual thing, trying to utilize as many players as possible. Speaking of that, we have assessed, we have reviewed, we have scouted and done due diligence prior to all of this. I am human meaning on the selection day there will be one or two players that might’ve been there,” Wall added.

Luton’s Premier League match at Bournemouth has been abandoned following a medical incident involving Hatters defender Tom Lockyer.

Lockyer was attended to by paramedics and staff in the second half, when the score was 1-1 with the clock paused at 65 minutes.

The defender was removed from the field of play on a stretcher surrounded by the medical team, and there was a standing ovation from the crowd.

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After the players were taken off, the Premier League confirmed the match had been abandoned.

A statement from the Premier League read: “The Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Luton Town FC has been abandoned due to a player medical incident.

“Our thoughts are with Tom Lockyer and all players involved in today’s match.”

Wales defender Lockyer had surgery to correct an atrial fibrillation in June after collapsing during Luton’s Sky Bet Championship play-off final win against Coventry.

The Hatters captain returned to action for the start of the new season and had made 15 appearances so far in all competitions before Saturday’s match.

Wales posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Our thoughts are with Tom Lockyer.”

Manchester City dropped points once again as a stoppage-time Michael Olise penalty saw the Premier League champions held 2-2 by Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.

City had dominated possession and appeared in complete control after Jack Grealish put them ahead in the 24th minute and Rico Lewis added a 54th-minute finish.

But Palace fought back to reduce the deficit via Jean-Philippe Mateta with just under a quarter of hour of normal time to go, and Olise subsequently converted from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure a point for the visitors.

It is the fifth time in six league games that Pep Guardiola’s men have dropped points, having also drawn with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham and lost to Aston Villa prior to last Sunday’s 2-1 win at Luton.

In what was their last match before heading to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup, the result leaves them fourth in the table, three points behind leaders Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday.

Chelsea recovered from a dour first-half showing to beat Sheffield United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and claim back-to-back Premier League home wins for the first time in over a year.

Cole Palmer continued his fine start to life in west London and was the difference for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, knocking in the opening goal from Raheem Sterling’s cut-back early in the second half before crossing for Nicolas Jackson to make it two.

The first half was instantly forgettable as Chelsea laboured without invention when in possession, before the summer signing from Manchester City enhanced his reputation as a match-winner in a team that remains maddeningly inconsistent in the final third.

Pochettino named Christopher Nkunku amongst his substitutes for the first time, and his return to fitness could not have come at a more opportune moment for misfiring Chelsea. Despite the game being effectively won with 30 minutes to play, home fans were made to wait for a glimpse of the player they hope will be their saviour in front of goal.

Chelsea dominated early but carried little threat. Their first sight of goal was a half chance, Conor Gallagher flattening Gustavo Hamer to win possession in midfield and hitting a swinging effort that was fielded with ease by Wes Foderingham.

The visitors were content for the game to be played in front of them, leaving little to no space behind for Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk to exploit on Chelsea’s flanks.

Mudryk summed up a turgid opening 20 minutes with an audacious nutmeg on Jayden Bogle before spooning a ballooned effort that pitched somewhere near the corner flag.

Djordje Petrovic, on his full Premier League debut, was the first goalkeeper to look truly concerned, the summer arrival from New England Revolution flinging himself at full stretch at Cameron Archer’s ambitious 20-yard effort as it whistled inches wide of the post, as Blades warned of their threat on the counter.

Chelsea had won just once since their buccaneering 4-1 victory at Tottenham in early November, but goals have dried up lately and against Blades in the first half they found their every avenue to goal blocked.

Their preferred route was out wide via Sterling and Mudryk, but when the ball arrived into the box it rarely found a blue shirt. In the centre, Palmer toiled and hunted for the killer pass, yet in the first period was far from his mercurial best with the ball at feet.

Jackson had his side’s best moment of the half, cutting in off the left and beating two defenders before aiming a low shot fractionally wide from the edge of the box. Chelsea had had 80 per cent possession in the opening 45 minutes, from which they mustered a single shot on target.

The goal nine minutes after half-time was greeted more with relief than elation.

Palmer started it, collecting the ball centrally and threading it in to Sterling who stood up his man and, with a burst of acceleration, dashed beyond him.

His cross into the box had pace and whip, and there to meet it was Palmer, continuing his run to knock it past Foderingham for his sixth goal of the season.

Five minutes later it was two, and Palmer again was the architect. A flighted ball in towards the penalty spot caused chaos at the back for Blades, as first Sterling then Gallagher got a touch, the ball spun towards Foderingham who failed to gather, and Palmer cut it back for Jackson to sweep into an empty goal.

Petrovic saved from a Hamer free-kick, diving low to his left to turn the ball behind, that after Sterling had been denied one on one by Foderingham.

Gallagher, influential throughout as the heartbeat of Chelsea’s midfield, drilled one over the bar as the hosts asserted their dominance.

Armando Broja came off the bench and staked a claim for miss of the season, whacking the ball into the Matthew Harding Stand from barely a yard out.

But they had already done enough, as home fans witnessed a victory in the league for just the fifth time in 2023.

Seventeen-year-old Lewis Miley’s first senior goal set Newcastle on their way to a seventh successive Premier League win at St James’ Park as they beat 10-man Fulham 3-0.

The midfielder, thrust into the action as a first-half substitute after Fabian Schar and Joelinton had been added to head coach Eddie Howe’s lengthy casualty list, fired the Magpies into a 57th-minute lead and saw Miguel Almiron and Dan Burn follow suit to clinch a hard-fought victory.

Fulham, who had striker Raul Jimenez sent off with just 22 minutes gone after needlessly careering into and flooring midfielder Sean Longstaff, frustrated the hosts for long periods but eventually succumbed in front of a crowd of 52,035.

Howe had insisted in advance there could be no hangover from Wednesday night’s Champions League exit and his players set about their task with relish in a bid to end a run of three consecutive defeats.

In the absence of the suspended Kieran Trippier, defender Schar took charge at a fifth-minute free-kick and after tapping the ball short to Anthony Gordon, he whipped a curling shot just wide of Bernd Leno’s left post.

However, the visitors, who had scored five without reply in each of their last two matches, had arrived intent on taking advantage of any weariness among the black and white ranks and repeatedly stretched the home defence on the counter.

Bruno Guimaraes fired high over from Gordon’s 17th-minute pull-back after Jamaal Lascelles had muscled Jimenez off the the ball with the striker needing treatment after being caught by a flailing arm.

The frontman was even more aggrieved five minutes later when, after referee Sam Barrott had been invited to review his ugly challenge on Longstaff, the official upgraded the yellow card he had originally awarded to a red.

Newcastle came desperately close to the opening goal on the half-hour when Gordon controlled substitute Emil Krafth’s cross and smashed a left-foot shot against the underside of the bar before Callum Wilson headed straight at Leno from Gordon’s cross.

Burn then did just enough to put Alex Iwobi off as he shot having run on to Joelinton’s loose pass with Martin Dubravka having earlier fielded Joao Palhinha’s long-range attempt.

Leno denied Longstaff after he had run on to Tino Livramento’s through ball and the half-time whistle arrived with the sides still locked together.

Guimaraes drilled a speculative effort straight at Leno as the home side resumed on the front foot but lacking the necessary invention or precision to fashion genuine opportunities until Gordon sent Leno full-stretch from Wilson’s lay-off seconds before Miley tested him with a rising drive.

However, it was the academy graduate who finally made the breakthrough with 57 minutes gone when, after Guimaraes had driven into the penalty area, he fired low across Leno and inside the far post.

The second goal arrived within seven minutes when Gordon’s through ball evaded Wilson and defender Antonee Robinson and fell nicely for Almiron to slot into an empty net.

It was three with eight minutes remaining, Burn bundling home at the far post after Leno had repelled his initial header.

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli will do his best to make amends for their disheartening Champions League exit by guiding the Rossoneri back into the competition through Serie A once again.

Milan are keen to get over the disappointment of their failure to progress to the knockout stages – Wednesday’s victory at Newcastle was only enough to secure third in their group and Europa League football – with a home win against Monza that will help them maintain their pursuit of second-placed Juventus, currently eight points clear.

Back-to-back league successes against Fiorentina and Frosinone were followed by a frustrating last-minute defeat at Atalanta last weekend and Pioli wants a response to both setbacks in Sunday’s lunchtime kick-off.

Pioli said at a press conference: “My big regret is that the team are not making the most of their potential right now, in Europe and in the league, so that’s what I must work on trying to change.

“This squad has so much potential, we created so many chances especially in the Champions League and lacked that bit of determination and quality. With that, we would have been here celebrating Champions League progress.

“Clearly, we can only now try to consolidate third place in Serie A and then try to do more. Our minimum objective is to qualify for the Champions League again, that is the very least we can aim for.”

Davide Calabria is suspended for the Monza clash after his dismissal in Bergamo so Theo Hernandez will be captain as Pioli tries to reckon with a defensive crisis.

Pierre Kalulu, Mattia Caldara, Marco Pellegrino and Malick Thiaw are all out injured, along with goalkeeper Marco Sportiello, and only one of academy product Jan-Carlo Simic and Simon Kjaer is likely to be fit enough to slot into the backline.

For Monza, Argentinian midfielder Alejandro Gomez is only two months into a two-year doping ban, with on-loan Torino defender Armando Izzo and Hellas Verona loan forward Gianluca Caprari among the key injury absentees.

Sunday’s visitors snapped a poor run of three games without a win by beating Genoa 1-0 last time out but away wins have been hard to come by so far for the mid-table side from the Stadio Brianteo.

Monza boss Raffaele Palladino said at his Saturday press conference: “We are satisfied so far but must keep our feet on the ground and improve on many aspects, such as being more effective in front of goal.

“Playing at San Siro is a source of pride. I believe Monza can do well and put Milan in difficulty. We are set up for this, to compete with anyone, anywhere. We must not be afraid of anybody.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna declared the long-awaited East Anglian derby with Norwich as a “great occasion” and claimed that his team were better by a “considerable margin” in spite of them drawing 2-2.

His opposite number at Carrow Road, David Wagner, meanwhile, said his first ‘Old Farm’ clash between the two sides – the first for nearly four years – was “exciting” and was what was expected.

Jonathan Rowe struck twice either side of the break for City while Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns were the Ipswich scorers.

Ipswich dominated the first half and should have been ahead by at least three goals but failed to capitalise on their superiority.

Broadhead spurned two chance to put the Town ahead. The first came when he danced round a couple of tackles to leave him one on one with Angus Gunn in the Norwich goal but he put his shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.

Moments later he picked up a cross from Wes Burns but fired the ball just the wrong side of the same post.

Town then spurned their third good opportunity to take the lead when Burns smashed his shot over the bar.

McKenna said: “It was a great occasion in terms of the build up and the supporters did the club proud in terms of the atmosphere they created.

“I thought it was a really good performance and we were the better team by a considerable margin, created lots and lots of chances, give away very few chances and there was lots of things that we can build on from the performance.

“Of course the frustration is conceding two goals from hopeful balls that ricochet around in our box, but beyond that there’s so many positives that we can take from the performance.

“Of course, only a point and we would have loved to have given the supporters the victory, but I think the team can certainly take a lot from that game.

“We have been so clinical at home and I think that’s a 3-0 performance in the first half if I’m honest and we go in at 1-1.

“The goals we gave away were disappointing, it’s two moments of concentration in our penalty box and a little bit of fortune in both which can happen.”

Opposite number Wagner felt the game had gone as he anticipated.

He said: “It was exciting and more or less what you expect, what you like to have… a lot of battles, a lot of energy.

“The lead changes during the game as well and I’m absolutely delighted about the shift my players put on the pitch, great togetherness, great working attitude, super fighting spirit and this the reason why it’s a deserved point for me.

“Obviously if you can’t win it you make sure you can’t lose it and this is what the players have done. We take this point.

“You have seen why Ipswich is so good at home and so good in the season in general. This was their first draw, every other game they have won and this makes it a good result for us.

“It was deserved because of the fighting spirit and of the effort which they players bought the pitch and they always believed going and fighting and close the yards in between the lines.

“Technically it was a very, very good game, they are a good side. We take the draw and this is why it was a deserved point for me.”

Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel insists his side will “give everything” to earn victory over fellow high-flyers Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Munich bounced back from their humiliating 5-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt with a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Champions League on Tuesday thanks to a second-half strike from Kingsley Coman and Tuchel’s side will be looking to set the record straight in the league again.

Stuttgart sit just one place beneath Munich in the table and could leapfrog the German champions with victory at the Allianz Arena.

Tuchel thinks Sebastian Hoeness’ team deserve their lofty placing due to consistent performances.

He told a press conference: “They’re very consistent. Together they’re greater than the sum of their parts. They deserve to be up where they are. They’re very homogeneous, tactically very flexible.”

“It’s impressive how Stuttgart play. You can see Sebastian’s mark on the team. I think Stuttgart have had a consistent over performance, so there must be good unity between the team and the coach.

“It’s completely deserved, so we’ll give everything our greatest respect and recognise that.”

Coman and Noussair Mazraoui both featured at Old Trafford in midweek but picked up injuries and were subsequently substituted which will rule them out of the clash on Sunday.

The pair will join Serge Gnabry on the sidelines but Tuchel will be hoping to have top scorer Harry Kane in his ranks after an illness.

Tuchel continued: “We’ve got tough games. The fixture list is how it is, we know it beforehand.

“The two injuries on our right side hurt us. They were both in good form. King has had a very good season so far. Nous too.

“It came out of nowhere and hurts because both are important players.

“Harry Kane is a bit ill. We hope he can train again tomorrow. Jamal Musiala is fine.”

Bayern will be looking to extend their unbeaten run at home with a return to winning ways but Tuchel thinks his side need to be at their best to earn a result.

He added: “Everyone wants minutes. It’s even more important now we don’t have as much competition for places that the intrinsic motivation is high.

“We showed that at Old Trafford. It needs to be there again on Sunday. If we won’t match that with the same spirit as Stuttgart show every game, then we won’t win.”

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is pleased to announce that ten local officials have been accepted on the FIFA international Panel for the 2024 calendar.

This was disclosed by Michael Ragoonath, Head of the TTFA Referees Department. The following individuals will receive their FIFA badges for the coming year.

Referees – Kwinsi Williams, Crystal Sobers, Cecile Hinds, Timothy Derry and Nikolai Nyron
Assistant Referees – Caleb Wales, Ainsley Rochard, Evelyn Carissa Douglas Jacob, Kirt Charles and Melissa Nicholas

TTFA General Secretary Amiel Mohammed applauded the progress made in the area of refereeing under the supervision and guidance of the Referees Department led by Ragoonath, a former FIFA official himself.

In 2021, T&T only had 2 female referees in Sobers and Hinds and 3 Assistant Referees (Wales, Rochard and Jacob at the FIFA level). In 2022, the TTFA nominated Williams and Charles, with only Williams being accepted and we started 2023 with 6 FIFA Officials.

The Refereeing Department of the TTFA has consistently worked on the development of the officials over the last few years, inclusive of implementing the training and advice from FIFA instructors at the TTFA’s annual MA Refereeing Course. 

As we continued to witness the development of the officials, in 2023, the TTFA nominated Nikolai Nyron and Timothy Derry – Referees and Kirt Charles and Melissa Nicholas – Assistant Referees to be included alongside the six aforementioned officials to the FIFA panel.

All candidates were assessed in the TTPFL and also attended Concacaf/CFU U14/15 tournaments during 2023 to be assessed by Concacaf Assessors. In particular, a full T&T quartet of Williams, Wales, Rochard and Derry have been assigned to officiate together at Concacaf matches over the last few months. 

All ten (10) nominees have now been accepted to join the list of FIFA Officials for 2024. 

Additionally, Andrew Samuel and Nathalya Williams were selected to join the Concacaf Academy for the next cycle beginning in January 2024. We also have Allison B. Mc Donald being selected as a Refereeing Assessor at the Concacaf level.

The immediate goal of the TTFA Refereeing Department is to have multiple officials appointed to serve at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

Martha Thomas’ ninth goal of the season fired Tottenham to a maiden victory over Arsenal in the Women’s Super League.

Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal entered this fixture eyeing an eighth consecutive league win, but the day belonged to his fellow Swedish coach Robert Vilahamn, who claimed a statement result at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Under the watchful eye of Spurs men’s boss Ange Postecoglou and chairman Daniel Levy, Vilahamn’s team held firm during a tight first half and produced a superb team move in the 58th minute, which was expertly finish by Thomas.

The visitors pushed for a late response, but could not find a way through to hand Tottenham a 1-0 win and a first triumph over their rivals at the eighth time of asking in the WSL.

The two rivals warmed up for this league fixture with an entertaining 3-3 draw in the Conti Cup on Wednesday, but chances were far and far between in the opening stages.

It took until the 12th minute for the first opportunity of note when a Caitlin Foord effort deflected wide to earn Arsenal a corner.

Eidevall’s side produced a neat short corner routine and it should have resulted in the opener, but Alessia Russo inexplicably headed wide from four-yards.

Spurs had shipped 11 goals in their last two WSL matches, which saw Vilahamn hand Barbora Votikova a first league start and the post came to her rescue soon after when Foord again cut inside and rifled a shot against the woodwork.

Tottenham were forced to replace centre-back Luana Buhler minutes later before Arsenal had penalty appeals waved away after Beth Mead went down after contact from Ashleigh Neville.

The hosts were able to regroup afterwards though and Celin Bizet posed questions of the visitors defence with two dangerous runs down the right.

Arsenal still looked the more threatening and Votikova saved well from Frida Maanum not long after Foord had directed another effort off target to ensure it remained goalless at the break.

Bethany England, only recently back from hip surgery, was withdrawn at the break but it was the away side who came out with better intent.

Russo squandered another fine headed opportunity from a Mead cross after 50 minutes before Votikova saved well from long-range efforts by McCabe and Maanum.

Molly Batrip brilliantly blocked a Mead shot moments later and it appeared Arsenal were edging closer to the breakthrough, but they were stunned by the hosts in the 58th minute.

Under pressure at the back, Tottenham kept their composure brilliantly and six passes after Votikova had possession inside her own penalty area, Vilahamn’s team were down the other end and Thomas had poked home following Bizet’s perfectly-weighted pass.

Arsenal immediately set about finding a response and Votikova saved Russo’s volley before Eidevall turned to his bench with Vivianne Miedema and top-goalscorer Stina Blackstenius introduced.

The game had to be paused in the 83rd minute owing to a medical emergency in the designated away end and while Miedema hooked over in the first minute of 11 added on, Spurs held on for a memorable win.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes is expecting a tough test as her side travel to Bristol City in the Women’s Super League on Sunday.

Hayes’ team go into the fixture on the back of a crushing 4-1 defeat by Arsenal last weekend which saw their unbeaten streak in the league come to an end and they will be looking to set the record straight after they also failed to beat Hacken in the Women’s Champions League in midweek.

Bristol City sit 11th in the table and have only won one of their opening nine games but Hayes is not underestimating Sunday’s opponents.

She told Chelsea’s website: “Bristol are going to play five at the back and we’ll have the same sort of challenges (as against Hacken).

“But if we can find a blue shirt, can put the ball into the right areas in the right moments, I’m sure we’ll be fine.

“She (City boss Lauren Smith) will make it difficult for us. You see their result against Arsenal, they’re actually eighth in the league in terms of xG conceded. So they don’t give up as many clear-cut chances as you may think.”

Midfielder Melanie Leupolz and defender Ashley Lawrence are expected to return to training ahead of the fixture and young Japanese forward Maika Hamano could also make an appearance.

Robins boss Lauren Smith is looking forward to another tough test and thinks her side are adapting to different challenges in the league.

She said: “As time has gone on, the performances have lifted and we’ve started to now show we can adapt to teams and that was pleasing to see at Liverpool on the weekend that we changed our shape and press and caused them problems.”

Manchester United will be looking to extend their winning run to five games in all competitions when they play Liverpool and boss Marc Skinner is pleased with what he has seen from his squad heading into the last game of 2023.

He said: “Barring the Manchester City performance, we have been excellent, considering four or five of my players joined us in the last week of the transfer window.

“They have grown together, they continue to grow together and it will be an exciting second half of the season, I can assure you that.”

Liverpool could go level on points with United with a victory on Sunday and striker Leanne Kiernan is setting her sights on competing with the teams at the top of the table.

She told Liverpool’s website: “We want to compete and we are not here just to sit in mid-table. We want to compete with the big teams and we know that on our day we are good enough to compete with the big teams, so we are really looking forward to it.”

Manchester City will be aiming to make it four successive league wins with victory over Everton at Walton Hall Park.

But the Toffees have also enjoyed an upturn in form recently and come into the game unbeaten in three league matches themselves and could move into sixth with a win.

Two out-of-form sides meet at the King Power Stadium when West Ham meet Leicester. Both teams are without a win in their last seven matches and will see the game as an opportunity to break their winless streaks.

Aston Villa host Brighton at the Bescot Stadium as the sides sit 10th and ninth respectively and both teams will be looking for a result to put some breathing space between themselves and the relegation zone.

Caribbean Cup champions Robinhood of Suriname joined Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup winners Columbus Crew as the biggest movers in the latest edition of the Concacaf Club Rankings (CCR).

The Confederation launched a revamped rankings system earlier this year, with clubs gaining points for results in official domestic league matches, regional cup matches, and Concacaf Champions Cup play. The CCR was also used to determine draw seedings and pots for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.

Club America retain top spot

Mexican giants and seven-time Champions Cup winners, Club America remain atop the rankings for the second straight month. Club America marched their way to the final of the 2023 Liga MX Apertura, eliminating 2023 Champions Cup winners Club Leon and Atletico San Luis along the way with respective 4-2 and 5-2 aggregate victories. Club America will face Tigres in the final.                                                                                                                       

MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew vault into Top 10

For the first time, Columbus Crew are in the top 10, thanks to their 2-1 victory over Los Angeles FC in the 2023 MLS Cup final. The victory also earned Columbus Crew their third MLS crown, as they moved into ninth position in the Rankings.

The top four remained the same, with Club America, Monterrey, Tigres and Club Leon. Philadelphia Union and Toluca swapped places, as the former inched up to fifth, while Toluca were relegated to sixth.

There was also a change in places between Pachuca and Chivas. Pachuca moved to seventh and Chivas in eighth. MLS Cup runners-up LAFC rounded out the top 10.

Eight of the top 10 clubs will contest the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup - Club America, Monterrey, Tigres, Philadelphia Union, Toluca, Pachuca, Chivas and Columbus Crew.

Saprissa surge past Alajuelense in Central American Top 10

There was a shake-up in the Central American top 10. Honduran giants Olimpia maintained their spot as the top Central American side at 39th overall, ahead of Costa Rican club Deportivo Saprissa, who surged to 44th overall, and Alajuelense, who fell to third in Central America and 46th overall. Saprissa did so on the strength of reaching the Costa Rican final, while Alajuelense were eliminated in the semi-finals by Herediano.

Herediano (49th) and Comunicaciones of Guatemala (52nd) remained fourth and fifth in the region, while newly-minted Panamanian champions CAI (53rd) reclaimed sixth spot in front of seventh-place Municipal of Guatemala (56th). Rounding out the Central American Top 10 was Motagua of Honduras (57th), Guatemala’s Antigua GFC (58th) and Tauro of Panama (59th).

Robinhood keep climbing in Caribbean

Recently crowned Concacaf Caribbean Cup champions Robinhood of Suriname made another big move in the Caribbean top 10, after they picked up another eight points to go from sixth to fourth in the region and 100th overall.

Haiti’s Violette (68th) kept their lead as the top Caribbean club, with no change in the second and third Caribbean spots held by Cibao FC of the Dominican Republic (92nd) and Jamaican side Mount Pleasant (99th). Following Robinhood is Haitian club Arcahaie in fifth (106th), while Caribbean Cup finalists Cavalier of Jamaica are sixth (108th), one spot ahead of Caribbean Cup third-place series winners Moca FC (109th) of the Dominican Republic. The rest of the Caribbean top 10 is rounded out by Trinidad and Tobago’s Defence Force (110th), ASC of Haiti (113th) and Jamaican club Arnett Gardens (114th).

Robinhood register biggest upset win

Robinhood’s 3-0 aggregate victory over Cavalier in the final of the 2023 Caribbean Cup, also went down as the biggest upset win over the course of last month. Heading into the final, Robinhood were 110th, overall while Cavalier were 100th, but now Robinhood have moved past Cavalier with their victory, as the Jamaican club slipped eight places.