Ex-TT defender joins North East Stars

Marshall, a 31-yearold with experience on three foreign continents, received his international transfer certificate this week, after joining North East Stars in pre-season.

“It’s great to get the legs going again,” said Marshall, who returned to Trinidad last May following stints on the Central American continent, first with El Salvador’s Juventud Independiente then Mexico’s second division side Murci?lagos, where he was a teammate of TT players Shahdon Winchester and Jomal Williams.

“I have been keeping fit and ready for anything, including the national team and even options abroad,” continued Marshall. “North East Stars presented the perfect opportunity for me to train and continue playing for the moment because I live in Arima.” Marshall, a Diego Martin-born former St Anthony’s College and University of South Florida player, added that although he is committed giving his best for his adopted community of Arima and his new club North East Stars, including sharing his experience with new teammates, his ambition is to return abroad and continues to work on possible moves through his agent.

“The plan is to stay active, get some games in and return to the top of my game because I haven’t had a full game in a couple of months,” he said. “The mind-set is also that I’m also at a place where I can share my knowledge with my teammates. But the plan will ultimately be to return to playing abroad once the opportunity right.” The former Los Angeles Galaxy and Rochester Rhinos – both North American clubs – defender’s career also took him to East Asia, where he represented Thailand’s Chainat Hornbill and Myanmar’s Nay Pyi Taw before joining Central FC in 2014 for his first professional stint in Trinidad.

“Experiencing different styles of football in different countries made me into a well-rounded player,” Marshall said.

“My experience gives me the added edge to adapt quickly to various styles of play and systems.” Marshall last represented Trinidad and Tobago on April 29 in a 2-2 friendly away to Grenada. He played the full 90 minutes against the Grenadians but was not recalled by TT coach Dennis Lawrence for FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers against the United States (2-0) and Costa Rica (2-1) on June 9 and 13 respectively.

“The focus for me as it relates to the national team, is to get back to playing at club level and put myself in the national coach’s plans,” explained Marshall.

For now though, King, a former Trinidad and Tobago assistant coach, is happy to have the veteran defender available for selection at North East Stars.

“We are happy to have him (Marshall) available in our mix of experience and youth,” said the North East Stars coach. King said Marshall is “a leader” who can complement defender Daneil Cyrus and others such as Elton John, who can occupy defence or central midfield positions.

Marshall’s current teammates include experienced players Kerry Baptiste, Cyrus, Kevon Villaroel, Leston Paul, Elton John and another well-travelled player, Kordell Samuel.

Other teammates include Kishun Seecharan, Rundell Winchester, Jomoul Francois, Seon Thomas, Jameel Neptune, Adrian Noel, Dwight Quintero, Kyle Bartholomew, Jelani Felix and Akeem Garcia.

King also hopes give valuable top flight exposure to the club’s Under- 17 talents Jean-Paul Rochford, brothers Darnell and Devon Charles, and Keon Boney, who already made his top flight debut at the start of the season.

King, a former TT international defender and 2009 Pro League-winning coach, has one competitive match under his belt this term, defeating Point Fortin Civic 1-0 on his debut as North East Stars coach on June 10 at the Arima Velodrome.

His side were set to face three-time defending champions Central FC at the same venue a week later on June 16, but concerns over ground conditions led to the aborting of the game and the debuts of TT internationals Cyrus and Leston Paul, who joined from W Connection and Central respectively.

But already, he says things are looking up for his club.