The History of Jamaican Soccer Federation

The available records indicate that soccer was introduced in Jamaica in the late 19th Century. At this time Jamaica formed its first team.
The Jamaica soccer federation was founded in 1910. By then it was known as Jamaican Football Association but later in 1965 it changed its name to Jamaican Football Federation (JFF). It is the body that governs football in Jamaica, it also organises the Jamaican National Premier League and both the women’s and the men’s national teams also known as ‘The Reggae Boyz’. The JFF joined Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in the year 1962.

By the year 1962 Jamaica had already gained independence and hap played many regular games its neighbouring countries such as, Cube, Haiti, Tobago and Trinidad and even the Caribbean All Stars team. Jamaica soccer Federation recorded a major success in the year 1998 when the Jamaica’s men’s national team qualified for the 1998 FIFA World cup in France. However, the men’s team did not proceed to the second round of matches but managed to win a match against Japan which was their final group match. The Jamaican men national team have also won the Caribbean cup five times. This success might appear small to some people but for a small country like Jamaica this is a great success for its football federation.

However, Jamaica’s national men team appeared on an international tournament was in the year 1925 playing against their Caribbean neighbours Haiti. The tournament had a series of three matches which Jamaican team won. Haiti nation team became their frequent opponent until 1932 when Haiti won 4-1 against Jamaica.


Jamaican men football team under the management of a Brazilian coach by the name Jorge Penna made its first ever attempt at the world cup qualifying matches in 1965. The Jamaica Football Federation has in the past organized international friendly matches for the National men’s team as well as for the women national team. Despite all this success, in the year 1973 Jamaica’s national team for men was eliminated from the tournament lead to the dismissal of some members of the team. This was one of the major drawbacks of the Jamaican Football Federation