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MBUFC aim to better third-place ‘achievement’
June 05, 2025
The chairman of Montego Bay United Football Club (MBUFC), Yoni Epstein, believes that the sudden change of coach during the second round of the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) positively impacted the team's performance.
MoBay United finished third in the standings on 75 points for the season, advancing to the play-offs.
Further, they played their way into the semi-finals, but lost 2-1 on aggregate to Mount Pleasant Football Academy.
And in the third-place match, Arnett Gardens whipped MBUFC 4-2 to qualify for the Caribbean Football Union Club Shield, thus securing a chance to defend their regional title.
While many were questioning MBUFC's coaching change, Epstein explained that, "I am a guy driven by data. If you look at the data, our success as a team got better after -- wins, losses, draws, the number of goals we scored and against us.
"That last run when the new coaching staff took over, we scored far more goals and had far less goals scored on us," said Epstein, who complimented the new coaches on doing a great job.
Argentine Rodolfo Zapata, who had been with the team for seven months, was replaced with veteran coach Paul 'Tegat' Davis.
Davis has deep roots with the club, which was renamed after its glory days as Seba United, when he led the team to its first Premier League title as the leading goalscorer.
In a post-season interview, the former ace national striker noted that he was proud of the team and they had a good run.
Despite a disappointing end in the semi-finals, Epstein, after two years of ownership, also described the season as an achievement for the MoBay club.
"While I would always want more, and I think we had a good squad to achieve that, we have to be thankful for how the season ended," Epstein told STAR Sports.
"When I think of the last two seasons that we have taken over, from where the club is coming from it is definitely another achievement, and a feather in our cap," added Epstein.
Epstein shared that the club plans to address deficiencies to reach the next level.
"In the summer, we need to look to add some players who are going to bring that level of quality into the squad. We need to take a holistic approach on how our mix of players are; the older, experienced to the young players and see how we can start to infuse more of the youngsters that are on MBU.
"While we are proud, there is a lot to expect coming into the new season," added Epstein.
Just a point shy from achieving one of their initial goals, which was to finish top-two, Epstein is satisfied with making it to the semi-finals.
"While we didn't achieve the goal, we achieved making the semi-finals which is a big thing for the club. It is the first time in nine years that happened."
In the meantime, Lorna Findlay, a die-hard MBU supporter said, "MBU really brought back life to the second city. I have been a supporter since Seba days.
"Seeing them advance to the play-offs and semi-finals made me proud."
