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“[…] Besides Chris Birchall, born in England of a Trinidad mother, all the members of the starting XI against Sweden came of footballing age in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Shaka Hislop was born in London while his parents were temporarily resident there, but he grew up in Diego Martin.
“Again, all the members of the team—barring Birchall—cut their footballing teeth locally. Seven of them were playing professionally in Britain at the time, including Brent Sancho, Hislop, Dennis Lawrence, Carlos Edwards, Densill Theobald, Collin Samuel and Stern John…”
Top row (from left): Dwight Yorke, Brent Sancho, Shaka Hislop, Avery John, and Dennis Lawrence.
Bottom row (from left): Collin Samuel, Carlos Edwards, Chris Birchall, Cyd Gray, Densill Theobald and Stern John.
Birchall was the only player who was not introduced to the game as a child on the two-island republic.
The following Letter to the Editor, which suggests that Trinidad and Tobago has a better chance of World Cup qualification through improving its local game rather than from legislation to widen pool of overseas players, was submitted to Wired868 by Richard Blackett, who is author of A History of Trinidad and Tobago Football, 1908-2006:
History tells us that Trinidad and Tobago can get to the World Cup without the grandmother rule.
What is needed are vibrant domestic leagues that promote and nurture local talent [and] attract the attention of international professional clubs, where those talents can be honed.
Gray, a San Juan Jabloteh player, held his own at the 2006 World Cup despite being a T&T Pro League player at the time.
Copyright: AP Photo/ Kevork Djansezian.
Let’s look at three examples.
The 1973 national team dominated play in the final qualifying rounds in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and should have gone to the 1974 World Cup were it not for some very questionable officiating.
Given that they outperformed the Haitian team that represented Concacaf in the World Cup, one suspects that the team would have held its own in West Germany.
All the members of the team plied their trade in domestic competitions. A number, including “Gally” Cummings, Warren Archibald, Selris Figaro and Wilfred Cave played in the North American professional league. They would be joined later by Steve David and others.
Back row (L-R): Lawrence Rondon, Devenish Paul, Peter Mitchell, Steve Khan, Dennis Morgan, Leo “Twinkle Toes” Brewster, Tony Douglas, Henry Dennie.
Center row (L-R): Leon Carpette, Selwyn Murren (captain), Gerald Figeroux, Sydney Augustine, Russell Tesheira, Ramon Moraldo, Steve David.
Front row (L-R): Selris Figaro, Wilfred Cave, Kelvin Barclay, Warren Archibald, Gally Cummings, Ray Roberts.
Missing: Winston “Bee” Phillips.
(via Everald Cummings/ Caribbean Beat.)
The same was true of the 1989 Strike Squad, which came up a point short of going to Italy. Of the starting XI in the fateful game against the USA on 19 November 1989, none played in the European leagues—Dwight Yorke signed for Aston Villa less than two weeks before the infamous international.
Then there is the team that made it to the World Cup in Germany in 2006. Besides Chris Birchall, born in England of a Trinidad mother, all the members of the starting XI against Sweden came of footballing age in Trinidad and Tobago.
Shaka Hislop was born in London while his parents were temporarily resident there, but he grew up in Diego Martin.
Hislop represented St Mary’s College in the SSFL before going on to be England’s most expensive goalkeeper when he moved from Reading FC to Newcastle United.
Again, all the members of the team—barring Birchall—cut their footballing teeth locally. Seven of them were playing professionally in Britain, including Brent Sancho, Hislop, Dennis Lawrence, Carlos Edwards, Densill Theobald, Collin Samuel and Stern John.
We ignore this history at our peril.
One last observation: two of these teams, 1973 and 2006, were coached by foreigners in the later stages of preparation; Englishman Kevin Verity in 1973, and Dutchman Leo Beenhakker in 2006.
(Copyright AFP 2015.)
But we need to remember that much of the early preparation of both teams was under the supervision of local coaches—Edgar Vidale in 1973 and Bertille St Clair in 2006.
The exception was the 1989 team which was guided to the brink of success by Gally Cummings.
History matters.
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