1980 – 1993 The Bunghi Chin Don D Football Regime

While planning my exit from the COLD of North America in 1979, I was advised by Winston Chung (who I met in Baltimore) who was responsible for developing/guiding Santos FC of Kingston and St Andrew and schoolboy team Clarendon College to the 1977 Da Costa Cup Title, to make a link with the Santos club when I got home. On my return to local soil, I met coach Jackie Bell and turned out for the Santos FC, trained daily and played for a few months before being offered the coaching post. This would allow Bell to concentrate on management of the club and his sporting business at Antillean Sports. 

Unable to secure funding for professional coaching services, Bell suggested ‘where’ football was weakest in Jamaica and if I really wanted to make a contribution to the development of THE GAME in Jamaica then I should investigate Portland and St. Mary’s (north east generally), strongly recommending that I do something to assist the poorest region that was badly in need for some help. I duly obliged. 

Football at Titchfield high school experienced its greatest successes under the leadership of Principal Lloyd O. Chin. Lloyd O Chin, who was unsophisticated, erudite, enigmatic and visionary. Chin recruited heavily for the best teachers available locally and abroad and would travel overseas to conduct personal interviews with prospective teachers for the school. The high standard set for the school was exemplified by the principal and maintained by his staff. Ultimately, it was the high quality teaching staff that kept the Titchfield flag flying high, particularly in matters academic. 

Likewise Lloyd O. Chin sought the best sporting talent available for the school whether student or coach. In this regard, Titchfield’s athletic program was coordinated by the very committed and athletic Bob (bob marley) McFarlane, the cricket program was in good hands with the experienced Tom ‘Nyah’ Wynter (deceased) and the football was about to be put in the portfolio of new sport master, physical education teacher and resident-coach, yours truly Don Davis. 

Read more in the attachment below

The 1987 RURAL ALL – Da COSTA CUP Team CAMP

The ALL D Training Camp was set to kick off at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning at G C Foster College for Sport in St. Catherine. There would be two sessions daily with meals provided three times per day. On arrival at GC, I settled into the designated coaches’ quarters and awaited the arrival of St. Elizabeth Technical football Coach Wendell Downswell and Team manager Mike Ollivierre, also of STETHS.

As time approached to start the first session there was neither Downswell nor Ollivierre in sight. I felt a bit of anxiety and wondered what I had really gotten involved into…after all, the All daCosta team were the Defending Champions. There was ‘something to defend’. I proceeded to get the Camp started with the roughly twenty -odd players who had made themselves available with the value of Psychological AND Physical preparation… for a most significant match to be played one week from the day.

Within the first hour of training I realized that this was the first time in my coaching in Jamaica that I encountered so many players who were technically and tactically advanced. The morning session was brisk and competitive. The lunch break revealed the high quality nutritional input by the College, and as the days progressed, it was the steady supplies of the kitchen that brought calm to the camp. No one could “eat out the kitchen”. The evening session was more combative as my drills and small-sided games brought each player to the top of their game. I looked forward to seeing Downswell and Ollivierre in the morning giving them the benefit of the doubt as it related to travelling. I also looked forward to the morning session as the technical level and motivation of players was infectious.

Sunday morning began with another healthy breakfast and a competitive training session. Still no sight of my assistant or manager. At the lunch break, I got wind that coach Downswell who was still in the player-mode was at the Reno FC match and would appear on Monday morning. I assumed that Ollivierre would also appear. With time seemingly drifting closer to the first and only practice match scheduled against Humble Lions FC of Clarendon on the Wednesday, I could not wait until the arrival of Downswell to introduce a system and style of play to the players.

The Sunday evening training session was keen and exciting as players battled to impose their talents in full – field play leaving me quite pleased with the level of play demonstrated by both teams. I realized that this would be a very difficult team to select but assumed that it should be less difficult with the inputs of coach Downswell and manager Ollivierre. There would be a rather dramatic turn of events come the Monday morning with the arrival of the ‘western contingent’

The texture of the training camp changed dramatically with the arrival of the bulk of the Da Costa Cup champions Ruseas led by the most feared defender in school boy football Marvin ‘Hagler’, the ultra-fit Steve ‘Shorty’ Malcolm , the perceptive Hector Wright (Herbert Morrison), goal keeper Warren Barrett
(Cornwall), and a host of western players. The camp immediately became a “battle-field” – and by the end of the morning session…it was evident that many players who had “impressed” on Saturday and Sunday were put into retreat.

The Russians, led by striker Michael Graham injected a “new level” of energy and aggression that lifted the All-D squad to a real ‘national level’. I always considered the All D squad as representing 12 parishes versus the All Manning who represented 2 parishes. I always felt that I had the best collection of the ‘broader nation’. The number of players had grown to 35, the level of aggression stepped up 110%, and Downswell and Ollivierre made their belated appearance. I was really glad to see some support in this venture as the Media had already picked up the ‘buzz’ that surrounded the annual clash between the top school boy players. I hoped that I was not really being set- up for a ‘major footballing disaster’ that would put a serious dent o my reputation.


From Emancipation To The Reggae Boyz

SUMMARY

From Emancipation To The Reggae Boyz is based on a 2006 Institute of Caribbean Cultural Studies U.W.I., Mona PhD dissertation titled : The Industrialization of Football : A Cultural Analysis of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz 1998 Road To France World Cup Campaign. From Emancipation To The Reggae Boyz is an African-Caribbean Ras TafarI centered perspective/narrative of 180 years (1834-2014) of struggle for economic, social, political, religious and cultural freedoms / liberation…viewed through the lens of international football. 

African – Caribbean Ras TafarI Centeredness can be defined as ‘the practice and meditations’ of African/Black People as Agents grounded/centered in a historical Space (in this case the Caribbean) and Time (1834 – present) using the Philosophy and Opinions (Consciousness) of Marcus Garvey and the Teachings of His Imperial Majesty JAH Ras TafarI as the primary tools for advancing social, economic, spiritual  and political life’. 

The African Caribbean Centered Ras TafarI Perspective is not color-conscious; it is not a matter of “color” but of Culture that matters in the orientation of Centeredness. Such a critical shift in thinking means that the African Caribbean-Centered Ras TafarI Perspective provides new insights and dimensions to the understanding of past and present phenomena.

First Black International Footballer

ANDREW WATSON:  FIRST BLACK INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALLER

The first Black player to play football internationally was ANDREW WATSON who played for Scotland between 1881 and 1882 . Born May 1857 in British Guiana, West Indies, Watson aged 24, went to Glasgow University to acquire a Bachelor of Arts degree. Watson lived with his wife and child at Afton Crescent in Govan.

 WATSON started his career with Maxwell FC in Glasgow. Then aged 19, his next step was Parkgrove in 1874. By the time Watson reached the University in November 1875, he had already played football for Scotland’s leading team, Queens Park. From 1880 – 1887 there came Watson’s days of glory at Queens Park. Records show that he played in 36 competitive games for Queens Park. He also appeared for the London Swifts in the English Cup championships in 1882, making him the first Black player in English Cup history. Commentators of the day regarded Watson “as one of the best players in Britain”. He earned 2 Scottish Cup medals and 4 Charity Cup medals during his career.  He was much sought after by clubs in England as well as Scotland.

ANDREW WATSON’s place in football history extends to the highest echelons of the game. Andrew Watson as a player and club administrator put Scottish and British football on the world map. Watson was a man of intelligence, foresight, and entrepreneurial skills He pioneered a narrative of Black progress in British football that can be regularly tapped for inspiration. As Club Secretary for Queens Park- the man who arranged the team’s schedule and managed its affairs- Watson was the first Black in a British club’s board room. He helped build up the profile of his club and prestigious tournaments, and ensured the loyalty of future generations of fans and spectators. Watson’s stellar attributes marked his as special for all times.

The first Black professional player was ARTHUR WHARTON, playing for Preston North End in 1889. Wharton was born in Ghana, West Afrika, joined PNE in the late 1880’s. He was mainly a goal keeper who sometimes took the field. WALTER TULL, of Barbadian descent played for the North London club Tottenham Hotspurs in the early 20th century.

ARTUR FRIEDENREICH was the first Black Brazilian who started his career in 1910. He dyed his hair and skin to avoid problems from the first years of his career. Up to the time of King Pele, ARTHUR WATSON was perhaps the most important Black player in the world capable of playing on either side of defense or in midfield. Andrew Watson went on to become the world’s first Black footballing administrator.

 No mean feat for a first time generation immigrant in a game where non-whites were rare, and in a city like Glasgow where African and or Caribbean people were nearly invisible.

It is on record that the game of football was introduced into the Gold Coast region towards the close of the 19th century by merchants from Europe. Sailors during their leisure times played football among themselves and sometimes with a select side of the indigenous people. 
The popularity of the game spread like wild fire within a short time along the coast culminating in the formation of the first football club, Excelsior, in 1903 by Mr. Briton, a Jamaican-born Briton, who was then the Head Teacher of Philip Quaicoe Government Boys School in Cape Coast.
Philip Quaicoe Government Boys School in Cape Coast.

He played club  for Queens’s Park.

Chapter 2 .:cont’d..From Harbour View to the New York COSMOS & BLAK

Melbourne Park 1965 – 1967

I prepared myself and passed the government administered Common Entrance Examination in the first attempt and envisioned a career in sport with dreams of playing Manning Cup and international football in the realm of the great King Pele. Kingston College, it can be argued is Jamaica’s first sports college. The school’s motto reads: Fortis Cadere, Cedere non potest’ which translates to mean ‘the brave may fall but never yield’. I entered KC at Melbourne Park in 1965. KC were winners of the Manning Cup in 1964 and 1965 placing 10 players on the All Manning Cup team. KC’s Manning Cup teams of 1964 and 1965 have been acclaimed to be the ‘greatest schoolboy team’ ever with outstanding play against Brazil’s National under 20 team.
My first two years at KC were spent at Melbourne Park, Elletson Road. All my hopes and aspirations were centered on playing football for KC in the Manning Cup. In my first term at KC I represented my class/form (1e) team at Form football, distinguished myself as a skillful dribbler and goal scorer and was rewarded by being named a member of the All First Form team.
This was a highly motivating experience and I looked forward to my second year in high school. I continued to do well in my academic studies and set my sight on playing on KC’s Junior Colts team. In my second term at KC I was named to the Junior Colts (U14) Team and for the first time represented the ‘Purples’ against traditional name schools such as J.C., Wolmers, Decarteret, etc. and learning the ethics of schoolboy football. I was named to the All Second Form Team and thus maintained a level of consistency in personal performance.
By 1965, “dem tek weh wi fiel inna Harbour View an mek one up-scal)e housin scheme called Caribbean Terrace… rite pon de sea”. The demise of the ‘Big Field’ had repercussions that still resonate (today) in the football culture of Harbour View.
The moving of the football centre from East Harbour View to the Compound on the western side of Harbour View and the shifting of the football loci from east Harbour View to the western section where play was developed on the hazardous and stony Compound and led to the subsequent demise of the Eastern Thunderbolt FC. Shortly afterwards a small triangular piece of land located on Aqua Avenue on the Western side of the community also became another recognized play area.
ASIDE: When the Flora rains of 1966 swamped Jamaica, Caribbean Terrace experienced minimal damage but the first indication of potential danger was evident as the Hope River flooded out homes [in Harbour View] along the bank of the river [Riverside drive, Orion avenue, etc.] as well as threatened the back yards of the homes in Caribbean Terrace. The field was ‘captured’ by very opportunistic and greedy investors who convinced upper middle class and affluent potential home owners of the ‘exclusiveness’ in purchasing a home in the newly proposed ‘Caribbean Terrace’ to be built on the “buffer lands” between the Caribbean Sea and the St. Thomas main road. Hurricane Ivan’s “message in 2005” apparently did not register home. Forty five years later Hurricane Dean would reclaim the ‘Big Field’.

In April 1968, four days after the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee…at the relatively tender age of 13, Donald Davis boarded a British Overseas Airway Corporation (BOAC) aircraft heading for the United States of America….TO BE CONTINUED… CHAPTER 3…..FROM HARBOUR VIEW TO BROOKLYN

My RENDEZVOUS

RENDEZVOUS in KINGSTON NATIONAL STADIUM

I MAN entered the National Stadium through the player gate…as Neville Oxford…the ‘captain’ of the Jamaican Masters team determined who would enter…he looked at I MAN askedly, like…who are you…though he probably knew my face from the Masters League competition…I MAN just say, “ whap’n Erks…his ancient football name that goes back to his days at KC…and just pushed by…giving myself access to the MacDonald Tunnel and a direct route to the Royal box.

After getting past the technical difficulties…I walked down the MacDonald Tunnel as crowd of people moved between the changing rooms and the end of the tunnel. At the foot of the MacDonald Tunnel I looked up into the Royal Box and there sat the KING, his attorney at law, the Brazilian ambassador, JFF president Horace Burrell and other dignitaires…as I looked up…Pele’s attorney signaled that I come up to the box and allow him to fulfill his promise…

        At the top of the line that led to the Royal Box was one of Jamaica’s pioneers in club soccer overseas.  Doc McKenzie too had come to pay homage to the ‘great man’ holding ‘his famous photo’ taken while playing against PELE in North America. Doc McKenzie is one of the early Jamaican pioneers in US college soccer (Oneonta College) and one of the first modern player (1970s) to play in Europe…when Doc was complete with his re-acquaintance with the King, Pele’s lawyer signaled for space to be made to allow IMAN to come up and be first introduced to the Brazilian ambassador and to be officially re-united with the KING…..…allowing IMAN to show the King  InI team shot and training pics…which he readily offered to sign…the photos racked the King’s mind…as he stared into deep space…recalling his days with the New York COSMOS..

I could see him making the reconnection through time and space…After deep reflection, the KING offered to autography our training picture. See below. This was just absolutely unplanned and mind blowing.

My RENDEZVOUS

RENDEZVOUS in KINGSTON NATIONAL STADIUM

I MAN entered the National Stadium through the player gate…as Neville Oxford…the ‘captain’ of the Jamaican Masters team determined who would enter…he looked at I MAN askedly, like…who are you…though he probably knew my face from the Masters League competition…I MAN just say, “ whap’n Erks…his ancient football name that goes back to his days at KC…and just pushed by…giving myself access to the MacDonald Tunnel and a direct route to the Royal box.

After getting past the technical difficulties…I walked down the MacDonald Tunnel as crowd of people moved between the changing rooms and the end of the tunnel. At the foot of the MacDonald Tunnel I looked up into the Royal Box and there sat the KING, his attorney at law, the Brazilian ambassador, JFF president Horace Burrell and other dignitaires…as I looked up…Pele’s attorney signaled that I come up to the box and allow him to fulfill his promise…

At the top of the line that led to the Royal Box was one of Jamaica’s pioneers in club soccer overseas. Doc McKenzie too had come to pay homage to the ‘great man’ holding ‘his famous photo’ taken while playing against PELE in North America. Doc McKenzie is one of the early Jamaican pioneers in US college soccer (Oneonta College) and one of the first modern player (1970s) to play in Europe…when Doc was complete with his re-acquaintance with the King, Pele’s lawyer signaled for space to be made to allow IMAN to come up and be first introduced to the Brazilian ambassador and to be officially re-united with the KING…..…allowing IMAN to show the King InI team shot and training pics…which he readily offered to sign…the photos racked the King’s mind…as he stared into deep space…recalling his days with the New York COSMOS..

I could see him making the reconnection through time and space…After deep reflection, the KING offered to autography our training picture. See below. This was just absolutely unplanned and mind blowing.

Amateur Culture In The Caribbean

The game of football gained  instant appeal wherever it was played including the Caribbean where British soldiers and settlers introduced the sport as recreational play. Interestingly, organized sport and its diffusion into the Caribbean were never accompanied by the culture of professionalism or business/ industry; barring the ‘sport of kings’.
The ethos of the English public schools of the second half of the 19th century, to a large extent had a deep influence on the development of many sporting teams, in Africa and the Caribbean. They sold a subscription on the old Greek and Roman conviction that sport plays an important part of the education – a healthy mind in a healthy body. In this ethos, to participate is more important than winning.

The Olympic Football Tournament acted as the world’s premiere football championships for the first three decades of the twentieth century. In terms of international development, the Olympic Games signaled the first participation in a major Championship of a team from South America.

The Olympic Games

The ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honoring both Zeus and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia. The winners of the events were admired and immortalized in poems and statues.
The modern Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart. The first Games held under the auspices of the IOC were hosted in the Panathenaic stadium in Athens in 1896. In terms of international development, the Olympic Games signaled the first participation in a major Championship of a team from South America, Uruguay.

URUGUAY
The Uruguayans had comfortably won the 1923 South American Championship in the December of the previous year to qualify for the tournament as their continent’s sole participants; defeating bitter rivals Argentina 2-0 in the final game.
Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Uruguay’s first participation in the Olympics was in Paris, France, in 1924. In that year, Uruguay won its first gold medal, beating Yugoslavia 7–0, United States 3–0, France 5–1, Netherlands 2–1, and in the Final defeating Switzerland 3–0.
In Paris Jose Leandro Andrade would be dubbed La Marveille Noire (Black Pearl).

1928 Summer Olympics
Uruguay’s second participation in the Olympics was in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1928. In the final the Swiss proved no match, ultimately, for the Uruguayans whose two goals in the second half put paid to their opponent’s ambitions, Uruguay eventually prevailing 3–0. Interest in the final had been considerable, such was the draw of the Uruguayan side; 60,000 watched and 10,000 were locked out.

1948 – 1952 OLYMPICS

In the 1948 and 1952 OLYMPIC GAMES, the Jamaican-Identity was established/globalized in the international sphere of sport with the ‘medalling’ of our athletes: Mckenley, Laing, Wint, and Rhoden. The cultures of Track and Field Athletics and the OLYMPIC GAMES have played critical roles in the success of Jamaica at the regional and international level of sports.

Caribbean Football…Haiti Vs Italy…World Cup 1974

HAITI’s first match pitted the small Caribbean island taking on the might of Europe (Italy). Italy were winners of the  second World Cup played in 1934 and runners-up in the 1970 Finals against the thePele led Brazilian champion team. HAITI on paper were no match for the experienced Italians. Likewise on paper, Haile Selassie was no match for Mussolini.

The opening match against HAITI was the legendary Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff’s 32nd birthday. A minute into the second half after 1,142 minutes or 19 hours and 2 minutes, the Italian net bulged. Haitian Emmanuel SANON claimed his place in World Cup history and in the hearts of millions of Haitian fans by giving HAITI the lead against the legendary Italian goal keeper. The Italians had not conceded in any friendlies and did not concede a single goal in Bthe six matches of the qualifying tournament. Going into the tournament, it was 1,096 minutes since Zoff had last been beaten.

SANON, a powerfully built and spiritedly aggressive forward from Port au Prince did what some of the greatest players had failed to do in Zoff’s 12 previous games for Italy. According to SANON, “with my pace, you can’t leave me with just one defender but that is what happened. I was one-on-one with Spinosi. I received a pass from Phillipe Vorbe. I beat the defender with my speed. One-on-one with Dino Zoff, I dummied to go left, and then went right. I rounded him, and rolled the ball into the net”.

In four years, SANON scored 47 of the 106 goals scored by the Haitian national team.SANON went on to a successful career with Beershcoot of Antwerp in Belgium. After7 years in Antwerp and 16 in the USA,MANNO returned to live in HAITI to help(as a trainer) in the revitalization of Haitian football.