Tivoli Gardens Football Club is a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club, based in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

. The club's senior team competes in the

Jamaica Premier League The Jamaica Premier League (formerly the National Premier League), commonly abbreviated as JPL and officially known as the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the ...

. The club has won the

title 5 times and the

JFF Champions Cup The JFF Champions Cup, known since 2022 as the Lynk Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in Jamaica, Jamaican football (soccer), football. The modern tournament was established during the 1990–91 season and is co ...

3 times. Their home stadium is the

Railway oval Edward Seaga sports complex, commonly known as Railway Oval, is a multi-use stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica. It is used mostly for football (soccer), football matches. It serves as a home ground of Tivoli Gardens F.C., Tivoli Ga ...

History

Founded in 1970, Tivoli Gardens Football Club was previously headed by former Prime Minister the late Rt Hon

Edward Seaga Edward Philip George Seaga ( ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician and record producer. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.

, who served as Member of Parliament for forty years. Five-times national champions, they won their first Premier League title in 1983. The club operates on lands previously home to the Jamaica Railway Corporation. The grounds are laid and the sight of old railcars. A number of major companies post their billboards on the complex which provides valuable cash to meet operational and development needs.

Recent seasons

The club won the National Premier League championship in 2003–04 and was runner up in 2004–05. They also won the Red Stripe Cup 2006, by overturning the fortunes of

Portmore United Portmore United Football Club is a Jamaican professional football team in the top flight Jamaica Premier League. With 7 Jamaica Premier League titles, 5 JFF Champions Cup and 2 Caribbean Club Championships, Portmore United is the most decorat ...

, who led up to the 70th minute of play. They also won the 2008–09 Digicel Premier League on the final match day. The senior coaches for the last years have been Glendon "Admiral" Bailey, who is well known in entertainment circles, and Calvert Fitzgerald, formerly of NPL rivals Waterhouse and Rivoli United who had been replaced by Desmond Francis for the 2007–08 season.

Club identity, politics and rivalry with Waterhouse FC

Tivoli Gardens are heavily linked with the centre-right

Jamaica Labour Party The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP; ) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party (as is the case for "Labour" parties in se ...

and specifically

. The football club emerged from the redevelopment of the Back-O-Wall area in Kingston during the 1970s, a project led by Seaga when he was Housing Minister. This redevelopment transformed a poor neighbourhood into a model community that became a JLP stronghold, with housing allocated largely to party supporters. The club itself became more than just a sporting institution, acting as a symbol of the JLP’s presence and influence in West Kingston. Tivoli Gardens' home ground is named the Edward Seaga Sports Complex. Seaga’s ongoing involvement with the club helped to reinforce the political identity of both the community and the team. Under the leadership of Seaga and other JLP-affiliated figures, Tivoli Gardens FC achieved notable success in Jamaican football, winning multiple national titles. These victories were often celebrated as extensions of the party’s dominance in the area, tying the club’s fortunes closely to the political dynamics of the community. Despite these strong partisan links, the club has also played a role in moments of political reconciliation, such as the historic 2003 match against Waterhouse FC, a team associated with the rival centre-left People’s National Party. This match, attended by leaders from both parties, and was a significant attempt to end partisanship in Jamaica. However, in 2017 it was noted by the ''

The Jamaica Star The ''Jamaica Star'' is a newspaper often cited as a resource for happenings in Jamaica. According to an advertisement in ''Editor & Publisher'' in 1965, the ''Star'' was one of the first papers to carry the King Features Syndicate King Feature ...

'' that both Tivoli Gardens and Waterhouse remained deeply connected to their respective political counterparts, referring to the teams as "Garrison Clubs".

Current squad

Other players under contract

Honours

Regional

Caribbean Club Championship The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). T ...

**Runner-up (1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Domestic

**Champions (5): 1982–83, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2008–09,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

**Runners-up (4): 1983-84, 2004-05, 2007–08, 2009–10 *

**Champions (3): 1999, 2006, 2011 *

KSAFA Jackie Bell Knockout Competition The Jackie Bell Knockout Competition is KSAFA's cup competition for clubs in Kingston and St. Andrew since the tournament's inception in 1987. Tivoli Gardens are the most recent champions. The competition was named in honor of the late Winthro ...

**Winners (6): 1993-94, 2003-04, 2008-09, 2013-14, 2016-17, 2017-18 **Runners-up (3): 1998-99, 1999-00, 2004-05

Doubles

* League &

(2): 1998-99, 2010-11

Former players

* Christopher Nicholas *

Ricardo Fuller Ricardo Dwayne Fuller (born 31 October 1979) is a retired Jamaican professional footballer who played as a forward. Fuller started his football career with Jamaican side Tivoli Gardens, before he moved to England with Crystal Palace in Feb ...

* Jermaine Johnson

Managers

* Calvert Fitzgerald (2006–07) * Desmond Francis (2007) * Glendon "Admiral" Bailey (2008) * Lenworth Hyde sr. (2008–10) * Desmond Francis (2010) * Glendon "Admiral" Bailey (2010–2011)

External links

Team profile at Golocaljamaica

References

{{Jamaican Soccer Football clubs in Jamaica Association football clubs established in 1970 Sport in Kingston, Jamaica 1970 establishments in Jamaica Right-wing politics in sports