‘Gaffa’ now with Army youth team

ANTHONY “GAFFA” BARRINGTON has refuted claims that he is no longer serving on the technical staff of the Defence Force football team. Barrington, who was the assistant coach to Hannibal Najjar on the national senior team from January to March, is now the technical director of the Defence Force’s youth teams, from the Under-13s to the Under-20s. According to Barring-ton: “People are wondering what is going on with me, and how come I’m not seen (on the sidelines) during the matches. “But I am currently pursuing a two-year course in procuring and quality control at Metal X Engineering in Chaguanas. It is owned by Mr Labeeb Najjar and my tutors are Beena Khan and P Raj, who are both helpful to me as I combine both my studies and football,” he said.

The “Gaffa” represented the Army-Coast Guard combination as a player from 1983-94. After hanging up his boots, he served as coach of Joe Public as well as the national Under-17 and Under-20 teams before returning to Defence Force as an assistant to Errol McFarlane in 1999. The Teteron boys were the first winners of the Professional Football League (PFL) title in 1999 and, when McFarlane relinquished his duties as head coach at the end of the 2000 season, Barrington took over for the 2001 and 2002 seasons.