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The following story—written by Wired868 managing director Lasana Liburd—was first published by the Trinidad Express on 2 December 2008 and chronicles the ambitions and racial barriers faced by Trinidad and Tobago players, Jan-Michael Williams, Matthew Bartholomew and Aaron Downing, as they tried to break into the European professional leagues:
“Williams, go back to Africa!”
The speaker was a seven-year-old boy in Ferencvaros’ colours—the Hungarian Second Division employers of Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams. It has been a regular taunt this season for Ferencvaros’ dark skinned players from their own supporters, let alone the opposition fans.
(Copyright Ferencvaros)
The 24-year-old Williams is, of course, not from Africa but racists apparently like to keep things very simple.
“From the first time I arrived here in the summer to now,” Williams told the Trinidad Express, “fans, both ours and the opposing teams, have been abusing us racially. Whether it be verbally with monkeys noises or the ever so famous ‘go back to Africa’ chants and even with posters and signs but they can’t deter me from playing at my best.”
Williams must be grateful to be back on Trinidad soil at the moment although his challenge here, though less repulsive, is also demanding.
In 2006, Williams became the first goalkeeper to be adjudged the Pro League’s Most Valuable Player and was the country’s undisputed number one in the subsequent two year period, which included a Caribbean Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
But Williams has featured in just three of 25 matches under Trinidad and Tobago’s Colombia-born coach Francisco Maturana and managed only one outing, thus far, in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign—he kept a clean sheet in Trinidad and Tobago’s crucial 2-0 away win over Bermuda in June. He is desperate to win his place back.
(Courtesy www.libero.pe)
On November 19, 2008, Williams looked on from the stands as the “Soca Warriors” whipped Cuba 3-0 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium to advance to the final CONCACAF qualifying round. He hopes to be much closer to the action when World Cup qualifying action restarts and aims to make a significant step in the right direction at next month’s Caribbean Cup finals in Jamaica.
“I want to play in the (Caribbean) Cup and help get our regional supremacy going again,” said Williams, who picked up a silver medal at the 2007 Caribbean Cup edition. “I think I could have done better in the (2007) final and I want a chance to redeem myself.”
In the way of his international aspirations, at least in the short term, is a long standing rival, Marvin Phillip. Familiarity does not always breed contempt.
“When Marvin and (Clico San Juan Jabloteh’s) Daurance Williams are on or around the national team, I know I have to be at my best at all times,” he said. “It is a fierce competitive rivally but we have always remained good friends.”
The pair competed for the number one shirt in 2001 when Trinidad and Tobago staged the Under-17 World Cup and Phillips won the nod for the three group matches.
At senior level, though, Williams benefitted from the stability of life southern giants, W. Connection, where he was understudy to Colombian Alejandro Figueroa while Phillip started for Starworld Strikers and then North East Stars but was punished for indiscipline at both clubs.
Ironically, as Williams packed his bags for Europe in 2007, Connection owner David J Williams—no relation—acquired Phillip, who had been released by North East Stars, as his replacement.
This year, Phillip made his own press to be numero uno with successive clean sheets in his first six matches under Maturana while he is one away from tying Clayton Ince’s record of eight shut outs in a calendar year. It is a fillip of sorts for the Pro League that, while players previously became irreplaceable once they joined European clubs, the opposite has been true for Williams.
But then little has gone to play for Williams in Europe so far.
After impressing on trials at Sheffield United, he failed to land a work permit at the England Championship League club because of a lack of international appearances and was loaned to Belgian Third Division’s White Star Woluwe—a club partly owned by the English outfit. There he rejoined former Connection teammates and national youth players Aaron Downing and Matthew Bartholomew.
White Star were on a hot run and preferred not to tinker with their first team so Williams spent much of his time at the sidelines. He got more than he bargained for off the field, though.
He remembered one night out in Belgium with Downing, Bartholomew and some white teammates when a sign in French a quick about-turn from a night club. When he asked his French-speaking colleagues about their abrupt exit, they explained that “blacks” were not allowed there.
The situation was repeated several times in Belgium.
“(Our teammates) were not apologetic about it because they didn’t think they had to be,” said Williams. “It is apparently a normal thing there. It is just understood that some club owners do not want blacks on their premises.”
Things got worse when, after again missing out on a British work permit, Williams was flown out to Hungary’s Ferencvaros where Sheffield again own a considerable stake. The club chairman, Terry Robinson, and coach, Bobby Davison—both English—brought in an influx of dark skinned players to challenge for promotion.
Trinidad and Tobago and Ivory Coast contributed three players each to Ferencvaros’ 32-man roster at the start of the season while there were also two Jamaicans and one Somalian. The foreigners hoped to benefit from the shorter, less complicated route to a European Union passport there as opposed to at countries like Britain.
But many players quickly had second thoughts and, within months, had asked the club to be released from their contracts in disgust at the racist abuse.
Downing and Bartholomew, both 20-years-old and former national youth players, have no intention of returning to Hungary and made their positions clear to the club chairman. They are awaiting word on a possible move elsewhere in Europe.
Bartholomew spoke about his anxiety in escaping skinheads at one subway station as well as his shock at the racist banners and abuse dished out on match day. The former National Under-20 Team captain, who led a team that included Khaleem Hyland, Radanfah Abu Bakr, Lester Peltier and Carlyle Mitchell, always dreamed of playing professionally in Europe but he described his last game, a 1-1 draw away, as the worse experience of his life.
“Coming off the field, we had to pass between two sets of fans,” said Bartholomew, “and people started pelting glass bottles and spitting at us and jumping up and down like monkeys. And those were our fans!
“After that, I called Sheffield (United) and told them I couldn’t stay there. I had to go home.”
Ferencvaros go into the winter break atop their standings and in an excellent position for promotion to the top flight. Williams’ last outing was a 4-0 win away to Vecses and he was partnered in the first team by Jamaican midfielder Jason Morrison and Ivory Coast attacker Kourouma Lamine.
Hyland has spent his last seven years as a professional player in Belgium.
There were a few positive signs of late. Ferencvaros put up posters at their ground condemning racism while there have even been handshakes and autograph requests from some supporters.
“Some fans have spat at me and the other Caribbean players,” said Williams. “I have been doing well personally but I am afraid of what might happen if I have a bad game. But not all of the people here are racist and my black players and I are making some progress in changing minds.
“So it will be alright, I hope. But there are still those fans who are upset. One guy even shouted at me in English ‘white supremacy’ after a game.
“I honestly think more can and should be done by our team’s management department.”
Williams is safe from the ‘back to Africa’ chants at the moment as he attempts to get back into Maturana’s good books. A trip to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup is at the forefront of his mind these days.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Editor’s Note: This story was first published by the Trinidad Express newspaper on 2 December 2008.
Jan-Michael Williams remained with Ferencvaros until the end of the season and won the Hungarian league with the club. Now 31-years-old, he is the current Trinidad and Tobago National Senior Team first choice goalkeeper and has represented his country 73 times with 23 clean sheets.
CONCACAF selected him among its top ten goalkeepers in 2013 and 2014. He trialled once since his Ferencvaros stint but never played for an overseas club again.
(Copyright Newsday)
Bartholomew quit Ferencvaros, just a month after this story. He rejoined W Connection and made two appearances for the Soca Warriors away to Chile and Belize in 2010—alongside the likes of Joevin Jones, Devorn Jorsling and Daneil Cyrus—under then head coach Russell Latapy.
However, his career floundered soon after as he took a lengthy break from the game, returned to represent Point Fortin Civic in the 2013/14 Pro League and then quit for good after an unsuccessful trial in Vietnam.
He is a former Mr Point Fortin and does some modelling. He turned 28 last Thursday.
Aaron Downing, now 28, also quit Ferencvaros a month after this story was published, along with Bartholomew. He did not stay long with Connection, though, and quickly disappeared from the local top flight.
He is now believed to work as a handyman.
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
And then they want to tell you to forget over 400 years of slavery and move on. You all ain’t moving on, so why should we. Continue with your shit it only makes us stronger.
unfortunately it still exist..got to feel sorry for them..just sad…and uneducated…
Big up my boy Downing from d WC days. Pro footballer. Idiots will be idiots and they plentiful.
never forgot this for my family yes..
Good stuff, just as no Trinbagonian players currently in the English Premier League is a good indication of the truth of what Lasana Liburd says. But also racism is not a one-pointed activity directed at a continent, education or sophistication, it is about what the aggressor can find about you that makes you different from what he can tolerate. So “go back to Africa” means to remove yourself and your difference. These European names that we Caribbean European residents are saddled with kind of makes us ridiculous in our identification. In my case UK, but 50 miles out of London that internationalist sophistication we hope to have portrayed on the streets easily falls to a racial reality that no amount of European names or part ancestry can obscure.
Well said Danny. And that also shows how difficult these issues are. Frankly, no club or even group of clubs can solve racism on their own. Although they can help.
Sorry for the typos auto correct. I meant the players could educate the young kids about themselves, their background and culture. You know it’s ignorance when they are telling every black player to go back to Africa.
Football teams belong to communities and this can be tackled by the club getting black players to go into schools and community based projects and start educating people about their players. Slot of this prejudice stems from stereotypes that are perpetuated by media and misinformation. The clubs can tackle this on the grassroots level. But as you said it cannot be policed.
Most are not into empowering young black youth my friend. .that’s the last thing on my mind
The clubs might argue it should not be their role to make the country a better place. And they would have a point too. Very tricky subject. But undoubtedly something has to be done.
I think Ferencvaros and Hungary got better as we saw with Akeem Adams.
It’s a long process. And it definitely needs buy-in from a lot of people within those societies. And, as you can see in US election and Brexit vote, there are many influential people within developed societies who rely on old prejudices for their power base.
Some of these countries in Europe are far behind when it comes to dealing with racial prejudice and they just brush it off as if it no big thing. This is were FIFA has to step in and say that counties would be banned from all European competition or start with a points deduction if this sort of behaviour is not punished by their football association.
In a situation like this the relevant FA might ask how they are supposed to police what happens on the streets. And they would have a point unfortunately.
Punishing teams for what happens in the stands is a must. But how do you legislate for what happens on the streets?
Nigel Myers, do you know what Dwarika is doing now? Ansil Elcock, you would probably know right?
Lasana, you should ask Theobald about his experience in Hungary. He was there for a few months with Ujpest FC, but it was a year earlier than the Ferencvaros crew.
Good point.
Where is Arnmold Dwarika today ? ? .
Sorry the name is Arnold Dwarika .
I think he is coaching now at a lower league club. Will have to check on that.
it was so strange when I spoke with mathew and he told me about racial abuse cause akeem was a god at ferencvarios they and the whole of hungary loved him
But when Matthew and the rest went, I think Ferencvaros had just started bringing in that many immigrants. Maybe they took the brunt of it and made it easier for those who came later.
oh ok
Jomo I. Johnson
Yeah bai….now reading it dey
Not everyone is academically inclined, and I assume those that are do go to university..
I whole hearty agree, but you can always go to a Junior college for two years or even go to boarding school for one year to improve your academics. Basketball players in the US do it all the time. TNT may just not be aware of boarding school.
Those that are so inclined already do.. Pretty sure
Darin Lewis and Maylee are some of many who went that route Anselm. But then Stern quit after junior college and that turned out to be a smart decision.
It’s always smart if you make it work for you of course. Lol.
So to did Kelvin Jack, Avery John, and Kevin Jeffrey.
Where is Avery John and Kevin Jeffrey now?
Avery lives in the Boston area and Kevin Jeffrey is the manager of Ma Pau Stars in the Pro League. He was previously part of Central FC’s technical staff.
Ok.
You see that’s part of the problem with football in TNT, instead of sending some of these guys on football scholarship so they can have something to fall back on, they go pro as teenagers and if and when they don’t make it, they are left holding the bag and back in TNT with nothing.
If you want to make it big as a footballer, then that is the age you have to go at. It is a risk but that is how it is unfortunately.
Dwight Yorke, Russell Latapy, Sheldon Bateau, Khaleem Hyland, Jerren Nixon… Most of our players who had long careers in Europe went around that age.
Small percentage as oppose to those who did not make it.
Agreed.
Not every TNT footballer will be successful in Europe just like not all track athlete will be professional runners. We tend to push most of out athletes to be professional going down a one way street rather than try to get some of them on a two way street.
That is where people might need to be realistic about the chances of the players they send. And also to be careful about were we send players.
Dwight Yorke would have had a lot easier time adjusting to life in England at Aston Villa than those boys in Budapest.
..Or Calcutta. Or Bangkok. Or Hanoi. Or….You catch my drift..
Hungary, even Italy was tough for black people and coloured sportsmen back then.
Some of these same players at colleges can be the foundation for the youth teams of TNT and some day moving to the senior team as well as going professional. Most players in the MLS are players drafted from colleges.
It is extremely difficult for college players to represent their country even at youth level. They can only be away from school for limited periods.
Essentially, they have to graduate before they can realistically aspire to play for the men’s team. Too many full-time pros ahead of them.
Keith Look Loy, is there a problem that owners of professional clubs in TNT are pushing players to turn pro and play for their club, so maybe in the future they can loan them to a foreign club and make money like it was done with Kenwyn Jones?
To be fair, not Trinidad alone Anselm. Most clubs around the world aspire to cash in by selling talent to European clubs. That’s the business.
You sure do get Lost out here in the US College System Lasana Liburd ?
That’s fair Lasana Liburd.
I think we need to hear from some former college players. At least we know at the end of the day they should at least have a college degree.
The only player I know who got a degree and went on to represent Trinidad and Tobago is Shaka Hislop. Not sure about Radanfah Abu Bakr.
Sancho claimed to have his but the first anyone heard of it is when he became a unc politician. So I’m very skeptical of his claim.
The other players left school before they graduated generally. Brent Rahim is one who went back and got his degree after the fact.
David Nakhid ( political science and economics)and Dexter Skeene both graduated from college and played for the national senior team. Nakhid also played in Europe.
Well that’s true. But it was a different time in that none of the Strike Squad players were professionals. This is a different era and school players are part-timers. So they are at a disadvantage.
Well that’s a big problem. Didn’t fhe Minister of Sport Darryl Smith go on football scholarship and graduated? Not sure if he played for TNT.
Las you not easy nah
Lol. He didn’t Anselm. Loads of players go away on scholarship all the time. Some are really talented national youth players. But most don’t continue the game after school.
We probably have dozens right in this group like Nate Ainsley Noel, Sherwin Seifert, Chaim Mckain, Marlon Springer, Carlos Lee, Brent Bennett, etc, etc…
Here is the issue in my opinion. If you get to the US at a good program you can develop and get to the pros. Many of our players don’t go to the top universities and we do a poor job of scouting them. We have had many All American players myself included that got lost in the shuffle. I really don’t blame the college system as much as I blame our ability to scout. I was twice the player at the end of my college career but no one knew that at home. They only knew me for the player I was when I left. But that’s the way it goes.
It’s important for the players who graduate to find a way to be seen. Or to be properly scouted. But I think we would find out about them if they play at a decent level.
Brent’s day would have been before the MLS unfortunately.
Leslie Fitzpatrick
Or was it Brent Bennett?
Colin, do you know if Tiger graduated?
So there you Brent BennettBennett there is no scouting system in place to keep track of these players that could be the future national players on TNT.
That’s true Lasana I really hope we give the kid Nathan Regis an opportunity at some point. He was the Division 2 player of the year last year and scored like 25 goals. That is outstanding. Hopefully he gets to the MLS and only then he’ll probably get a look.
Ye Lasana Liburd well last I checked he did – but he can confirm whenever he reads this
Well, Tiger did have a season in Holland. But I won’t say he made it in Europe either. The point was whether players could have both. And I said it is extremely rare.
Brent, what level is Nathan playing club football? What league?
He is in his last year in college. He will definitely be invited to the MLS combine so we will see. I predict he’ll be drafted.
Lasana, yes, Radanfah graduated with a degree in business from Kingston University, London.
You have others like David Nakhid (American University), Avery John (American University), Scott Sealy (Wake Forest University), Mickey Trotman (University of Mobile), Leslie Fitzpatrick (Colombia University), Julius James (University of Connecticut), Darin Lewis (University of Connecticut), Craig Demmin (Belhaven College), Garth Pollonais (Erskine College), Glenn Benjamin (University of Mobile), Kevin Jeffrey (Virginia Commonwealth University), Anthony Noreiga (George Mason University), and Nigel Henry (Howard University).
What that partial list shows, is that still most of them have only made fleeting appearances for the country.
Yep. And that’s the point Nigel. But it’s excellent that they did have that safety net.
Nigel Myers thank you very much. That’s exactly the point I was raising.
Anselm, most of those players did NOT go on to have professional careers in Europe or even distinguished international careers. From that entire list, only David Nakhid and Shaka Hislop managed that.
Lasana Liburd I know that, but that was exactly the point I was trying to make.
Fair enough Anselm. Look at the boys from our last World Youth Cup teams. Kevin Molino and Sheldon Bateau went pro. Leston Paul and Sean De Silva went to school. Everytime they went to a class, Molino and Bateau were kicking a football. It is a big advantage.
Nigel, do you know what happened to Travis Sobers? I thought he had what it took to make it as a player. Always wondered what happened to him in the US.
If I were to list the players I saw over the last decade that made me sit up: Travis Sobers, Shahdon Winchester, Joevin Jones, Khaleem Hyland, Robert Primus, Gorean Highley, Tyrel Emmanuel, Akeem Garcia, Levi Garcia, Brent Sam, Duane Muckette, Kadeem Corbin and Ataulla Guerra.
I’d say just three of those players are at anywhere near the level I thought they would be at now.
Lasana, Travis is still in Ohio and involved in football. Among other things he is the Assistant Coach of Wright State University’s Women’s Soccer Team.
Good for him.
Not really Lasana Liburd, I would say that 75% of the MLS are former college players, it’s all about time management in College.
Those MLS players aren’t even the core of the US team anymore. Their best player at present just turned 18 and is playing in the German top flight and champions league.
And I think the MLS takes many of their players outside the college system now.
Lasana Liburd the MLS takes mostly American College players because they come cheap and sprinkle in some foreign players at higher salaries.
You could be right Anselm. I haven’t scrutinised the rosters. I know they take in more players from Central and South America now. But I guess there will still be room for college boys.
I don’t think as much as before. But they do need the cheap labour in truth.
The only way they have survived is through cheap labor.
Great Topic Everyone, this one hits home for me.
I for one thought Downing would have played senior football for T&T. Just goes to show you it takes much more than talent.
It is a mystery the way Downing disappeared. But Bartholomew was a real fox in the box as a teenager. I thought he might have been the new Stern John.
He was as sharp as a tack in the 18 yard box although probably not as good as Stern outside of it.
Yes, Bartholomew was a slippery one.
Well put together article wired 868.
Sad to see the careers of 2 promising footballers go to waste due to petty and ignorant “people “, kudos to Jan for hanging in there.
Just loving this the truth would always be revealed
Akeem Adams on the other hand seemed to be having a good time before his untimely passing.
Yes. Akeem went there about six years later. Maybe the club was more used to having non-white players by then.