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‘The club deserves it’ - Whitmore praises Mount Pleasant FA owners after securing first Champions Cup appearance
November 07, 2025
Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, head coach of Mount Pleasant Football Academy, has praised the work done by the club's co-owners Peter Gould and Amanda Gould after qualifying for the Concacaf Champions Cup for the first time.
Mount Pleasant booked their spot in the Champions Cup after advancing to the final of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup, defeating Defence Force of Trinidad and Tobago 5-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
It is the first time that Mount Pleasant have qualified for the Concacaf Champions Cup competition, and the third straight season that a Jamaican club will be represented.
Whitmore said it was a major achievement for the club which was founded in 2016, earned promotion to the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) in 2018, and won their first JPL title in 2023.
He attributed much of the team's success to the leadership shown by the owners.
"It means a lot to us as a team," he said."I think the ownership led by Peter and Mrs Amana Gould deserve it. I think they have invested a lot so (they're) getting the reward now. It's a plus for the club.
"It means a lot. I think the club deserves it and the ownership deserves it, so now it is for us to take it one step further."
Their achievement is seen as even more impressive, following their disastrous run in the competition last season.
Then, Mount Pleasant crashed out at the group stages with just one win in four games.
This time around, Mount Pleasant were dominant, ending atop their group with a perfect record and without conceding a single goal.
Whitmore said they have banished the ghosts of seasons past and are now looking ahead to the final.
"There is no comparison. We didn't prepare for the tournament last season and we don't want to go back to that; that's history," he said.
"We are now better prepared, both physically and mentally, and this is the result we get and now we're into the final."
Whitmore said their objective now is to the finish the final lifting the coveted trophy.
If they finish the tournament as champions, they will be seeded into the round of 16 for the Champions Cup.
However, should they finish runners-up, they will begin their Champions Cup campaign in the first round.
The final will be played across two legs, on November 24 and December 1.
"The objective remains the same," Whitmore said. "We wanted to be in the final, now we're in the final nothing changes. It's for us to take it one step further and do the club and the country proud."
