At about the time of Burrell's birth, his father, Edward, attempted to purchase the land that he was leasing for tobacco farming, but was denied.

Consequently, Edward gave up the lease and returned to the family lands in upper Clarendon where he continued to pursue general farming, growing bananas, sugar cane, citrus, some tobacco and keeping livestock.

While farming was a central focus of family life, the Burrell parents maintained a primary commitment to the education of their children as their top priority.

Through friends of his brother he learned that the St. Elizabeth Technical High School, John Pottinger, was looking for someone to teach Biology and Agricultural Science, both subjects in which Burrell had excelled.

He was never prepared to take no for an answer and he questioned everything...even if it came from his mother.” In his early 20s, Burrell taught agricultural science at St. Elizabeth Technical High School.

He applied for entry to the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and undertook a challenging three-day course of physical endurance, leadership appreciation, and mental ability tests.

As a second lieutenant, Burrell stayed in Canada, to undertake further studies at the Combat Arms School situated on the Canadian Forces Base in Gagetown, New Brunswick.

One year later in 1974, and now Lieutenant, Burrell would fly to the United Kingdom to undertake further military studies at the School of Infantry, Platoon Commander's Battle Course which took place in Warminster.

In 1977 Burrell was promoted to captain in the Jamaica Defence Force after just five years of army enrollment, three of which, had been spent in advanced weapons and leadership training.

In 1980-1981 Burrell returned to Canada for further studies, this time at the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College in Fort Frontenac, Ontario.

As manager of the team, he unknowingly was learning life lessons that would later allow him to become the fulcrum around which Jamaica’s entire football program revolved.

For the 1998 Road to France campaign, he went to Brazil for René Simões, a coach also remembered for the famous inscription on his shirt, ‘Jesus Saves’.

Later, Peter Cargill and one of the 1993 Gold Cup heroes, Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis, joined the team after returning from professional stints in Israel.

With all combined, the team gained momentum to even win football’s Best Mover of the Year Award, in 1996, on its journey to the ultimate stage, the World Cup Finals.

[3][4][5][6] A number of countries were said to have adopted the Jamaican model of development in their quest for World Cup Final qualification due to their success.

[3] On 14 October 2011, the FIFA Ethics Committee, banned Horace Burrell for a period of six months because he was involved in the Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal.

[7] The Ethics Committee suspended three months of the ban, subject to a probationary period of two years, and Burrell was cleared of all charges.