Win or lose, what next for Yorke’s red, black and white army? And what does it mean for T&T’s football?

Will the next three hours of football played by the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team define the legacy of head coach Dwight Yorke, the Soca Warriors under his guidance and the current Kieron Edwards-led Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) executive?

Could it spark the revitalisation of Trinidad and Tobago’s football programmes?

It is likely to feel that way when over 20,000 patrons descend on the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain tomorrow evening to see the Soca Warriors tackle Jamaica from 8pm, in a crucial World Cup qualifier.

There is an impressive buzz around the Men’s National Senior Team over the 10 months or so. And this outfit is traditionally considered the “flagship” of the two-island republic’s football programme.

It is a truism that might be less valid now than it has ever been. Because Trinidad and Tobago’s football is demonstrably not in good health.

Local clubs—once champions of Concacaf and, even in this millennium, unrivalled in the Caribbean—are now being humbled at home by even Barbados teams.

National youth teams are lucky to even turn up on time for international tournaments, much less push for supremacy.

The Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), the most enduring and well supported domestic competition, is starved for resources and proactive leadership.

And, remarkably, the TTFA is now going into its third month without a technical director, which is an essential staple of any functional football association.

Persons knowledgeable about the organisation of football would understand the relevance of a missing technical director when the first-time National Under-17 head coach, Randolph Boyce, fails to properly execute a simple screening session.

Or when the Women’s National Senior Team is about to enter the W Championship Qualifiers with two assistants, after their head coach, Angus Eve, walks off the job.

How does whatever talented Trinidad and Tobago attacker Levi Garcia pulls out of the hat against Jamaica change any of that?

So, to be clear, Trinidad and Tobago’s performances against Jamaica and Bermuda are not a referendum on the administrative value of Edwards and his Team Progressive—one way or the other.

That’s not to say that T&T’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign is not a worthwhile conversation in its own right. By next week, the most pertinent question will almost certainly be: do we keep Dwight Yorke?

Sport is a result-oriented business, which is the reason for a scoreboard. So, if Yorke leads the Warriors to successive victories, the answer would be obvious. Mission accomplished.

If Trinidad and Tobago do not qualify for the World Cup, or the Fifa Play-Offs, then consider the following; in eight competitive matches as head coach so far, Yorke’s troops defeated: Cuba (twice), Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Bermuda.

Former coaches Dennis Lawrence and Angus Eve both defeated the United States in competitive fixtures, albeit without advancing Trinidad and Tobago’s cause significantly in either scenario.

Yorke, however, could not defeat a mediocre Curaçao team after two attempts or a Haiti outfit team that played for nearly an hour with 10 players.

If the Warriors do not get a result against Jamaica, what does Yorke use to support his claim for reinstatement, beyond an excited fan base?

I noted earlier that this is a result-oriented business, but there are exceptions while context might also be applicable.

Surely, it would be unfair to judge Yorke on the same scale as Steve McClaren, for instance—with the Jamaica head coach enjoying considerably more resources, a deeper player pool and a superior football ecosystem within which to operate.

McClaren’s Reggae Boyz are supposed to beat Trinidad and Tobago, by any measuring stick with which you might compare the two football programmes.

McClaren is not necessarily a genius if Jamaica win tomorrow, anymore than Yorke is a quack simply because Trinidad and Tobago—God forbid—lose.

Do the Soca Warriors have a clearer football identity under Yorke? Is he able to get the best out of his players? Is there a general belief, within football circles, that our football is on the rise?

If you asked three different people those questions, you might get three different answers. As a sport reporter with three decades of experience, I’d suggest from my viewpoint that the current Soca Warriors are… decent.

We are not particularly good at anything, and we are not especially bad at anything either.

In attack, the structure and guile to consistently advance the ball into the final third of the field is not always evident. And, defensively, we seem to be reactive with regards to where we hope to regain possession.

Yet, allowing three goals from four outings suggests we are far from ragged defensively. And, although four goals at the other end is a paltry tally, there is little doubt that Jamaica will be full of respect for the capabilities of Trinidad and Tobago’s front three of Tyrese Spicer, Dante Sealy and Garcia—presumably served by veteran playmaker and captain Kevin Molino.

The TTFA’s technical committee, ironically headed by Edwards himself, will be the ones to judge if Yorke sounds capable of building on his current team showings; or if this is as good as he can do.

Yorke’s Warriors are not bad; but they are not good enough either. The question is: can he improve them?

Can Yorke get the best out of his players? This one is even more problematic.

The “grandparents law”, in my opinion, is not a silver bullet. The TTFA’s job is to create an environment within which young players—and coaches—can be developed and flourished. Edwards’ team has done nothing of the sort so far; so, suggestions that they aim to simply import talent instead is worrying.

It raises doubts about Edwards’ commitment to improve the local football set-up, which he campaigned on.

So far, though, the only identified target of the new legislation is 30-year-old England National League defender Ryan Inniss, who is basically a semi-professional player operating outside of his home country’s top four football divisions.

It might be funny if the same technical staff was not ignoring the likes of Aubrey David, Neveal Hackshaw, Leland Archer and Luke Singh—all boys who already hold Trinidad and Tobago passports, represented their country, are full international players, yet appear to be frozen out from selection.

How could Yorke not deem it necessary to give a full explanation on David’s omission, beyond the obvious claim that he is entitled to select the players he wants?

As a former national captain and two-time World Youth Cup player, does David not deserve a bit more than that?

With Molik Khan unavailable due to injury before a crucial match window, does Yorke really think that Daniel “Fingers” David, a talented rookie from Central FC, is a surer bet than Duane Muckette, Dantaye Gilbert or Joevin Jones?

Is New York New Jersey Red Bulls II forward Roald Mitchell, a second division player with no international experience, as ready to be thrown into the deep end as Reon Moore?

Why has Yorke never had ADI Metapan playmaker Jomal Williams or SK Hanácká Slavia Kroměříž forward Justin Araujo-Wilson in his squads to date?

(Khan’s cameos in the last international match window, if anything, crystalises the point that Yorke’s “due diligence” is not all he appears to think it is, when it comes to scouting local talent.)

Of course, Trinidad and Tobago’s showings against Jamaica and Bermuda would ultimately have much to do with the players themselves.

Garcia’s value to his country remains a divisive topic. However, the 27-year-old, the last homegrown export to walk into one of Europe’s best top tier leagues, is surely the most gifted player of his generation.

If Garcia is on song, the Reggae Boyz are in for a testing night in Port of Spain.

Similarly, Spicer, Sealy and Molino have the quality to punish a mistake from their visitors; and football is a game of mistakes—make as few as possible and capitalise on your opponents’ and you’re in with a shot.

It might be a long time before the Hasely Crawford Stadium is as energised as it will be on 13 November, when the Caribbean’s two football rivals fight for a place at the 2026 World Cup.

Hopefully, the Soca Warriors prevail.

But one should think long and hard before deciding what is the true value of Trinidad and Tobago’s next two games.