ALAN SHEARER, Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo, Andrew Cole and Jason McAteer are among the former English Premier League stars who will be setting Kensington Oval alight in a celebrity football tournament on June 10 and 11.
The inaugural British Airways Football Legends Invitational Tournament is a joint venture with the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) and the Professional Football Association (PFA), and presents a rare and unique opportunity for Barbadians to see these players live.
Teams will comprise past players representing Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle, Blackburn and an All-Star side. There will be rolling substitutions and teams will be divided in two groups of four.
“Our mandate is to get people to come to Barbados, so we believe that by having these six teams here we will attract the fan base from the UK. We know that Bajans will come out in massive numbers and we also believe that people from the region will come to Barbados to watch these greats,” BTA sports tourism consultant Hayden Coppin told WEEKENDSPORT.
“A lot of these guys are still in fantastic shape and we expect great football,” he added.
“It is a major football tournament expected to give Barbados a huge boost among the football-loving people of the world. The English Premier League is the world’s biggest league and the teams that are earmarked to participate are therefore some of the world’s biggest clubs.”
Petra Roach, the BTA vice-president of marketing and sales in Europe, came up with the idea.
Coppin said the BTA was able to get buy-in from the players because Barbados was a marquee destination.
“There is no real organised masters tournament in England, just various little leagues. A lot of the past players don’t get a chance to perform and play at the highest level,” he explained.
“So when the opportunity came, they [PFA officials] were extremely pleased, but they thought the problem would be to get players to agree. However, when they went to the players and said, ‘Barbados’, people were jumping up and saying, ‘Sure, why not?’”
The chance to play at Kensington Oval, a world-class, historic cricket ground, was also part of the attraction, as well as the tournament being a charity event. Proceeds will go to the Barbados Football Association and the National Sports Council to help develop football here.
Coppin said the BTA hoped to involve the local masters in some exhibition matches.
News of the tournament is already creating a buzz among the players.
Di Matteo, a former Chelsea player and current boss of Premier League side West Bromwich Albion noted in the BTA’s Weekly Update: “The opportunity to renew some old rivalries and to play in such a high-profile and prestigious competition was simply too good to refuse. It’s absolutely fantastic to think that we will be lining up with some of the great players from our own era and in such a wonderful location as well.”
