WHEN?I WAS?growing up, football was the sport that best exemplified the character and the identity of Carrington’s Village.
Royals made a strong representation in basketball, too, but it was football that seemed to hold the community together and raised the self-esteem of its residents. There were spin-offs for neighbouring borders like Hall’s Road and Deane’s Village.
New South Wales was the team that had the burden of showing the rest of Barbados that something good could come out of Nazareth against the background of perceived negatives associated with similar communities at the time.
Each and every player wore the green and white uniform with pride and played each match like soldiers called to defend their sovereignty and, in most cases, their manhood.
They were fierce competitors but still managed to form an alliance with style and panache, a term one of their legends, Keith Griffith would make his own once he hung up his boots and became this country’s best football commentator.
My first view of the team that was destined to become Barbados’ most decorated football unit was in 1966 when they beat Spartan in the knockout final at Kensington Oval. I was told specifically to keep my eyes out for Victor “Gas” Clarke, a top footballer of the day.
I also grew fond of players from that vintage like Sackie Gregoire, who outwitted and outpaced opposing wing backs on both flanks, and defender Carlos “Chuck Berry” Griffith, who seemed to be the complete article in his position. His seemed to be a typical case of gone too soon when he drowned in the floods of 1970.
It was, in fact, at the turn of the 1970s that the Wales started to build a legacy that would set them apart from rivals such as Everton, Notre Dame, Beverley Hills and Blackspurs. Their arsenal was so strong that by the mid-1970s, it was not unusual to find the Barbados team populated with as many as eight Wales players in the starting line-up.
Apart from some mentioned before, there were the Goddards – Victor, Ricky and Jerry; the Alleynes – Clarence and Eric, and highly regarded goalkeeper Leon “Cheese” Bryan, to mention a few.
Wales’ dominance coincided with some of the better years for the senior national team.
As time went on, the Wales would maintain a level of invincibility and defeats would be rare as the early 1980s would unfold a gem called Anthony “Daisley” Clarke and others like Mike Edmee, Gus Sandiford, Edward Smith, Charles Williams and Ricardo “Cracker” Goddard would also become household names.
The demographics changed slightly too, as players from outside of the general Carrington’s Village area like Williams, Smith and Goddard were able to join the ranks.
We can’t forget either that there was a significant name change in the mid-1970s as the team was re-christened Weymouth Wales which reflected the fact that Weymouth was where they trained and used as their home ground.
I believe that was orchestrated by Nigel Harper, who was the club’s president, but he was also in the forefront of essaying a new national and cultural identity.
Wales dominated until the mid-1980s when Pinelands and the emerging sides from Christ Church such as Paradise and Gall Hill graduated from the Christ Church League and showed that so-called country teams could match those from town.
Wales’ last senior league title before this year’s capture of the Premier League championship with a game in hand would be in 1986 and their other crown of note would be the BESS out-of-season tournament in 1993, with midfield general Adrian Hall the mastermind.
The team broke ranks after this and Empire and Notre Dame became the main beneficiaries.
With their stocks severely weakened, Wales would even suffer the indignity of relegation but gradually in the past five years they were able to regroup.
Comparatively speaking, the current group won’t match the brilliance of the galaxy of stars in Wales’ heyday and won’t be able to draw the huge crowds of the past, but what they have in common is that they made the folks of Carrington’s Village feel special.
And that’s the goal that really matters.
• Andi Thornhill is an award-winning freelance sports journalist.
