Football fame and fortune

DWIGHT YORKE had always liked football. He had a passion for the game, and he was sure he wanted to make a career out of it. But to many, this was not a viable option for a poor boy growing up in the village of Canaan on the western end of Tobago. He was sure he had a “calling.” Few would believe this youngster of humble beginnings would fulfil his dream.

But it was a dream he ardently followed from Canaan to Aston Villa in England, with stops along the way at the schools he attended in Tobago — Bon Accord Govern-ment Primary, Scarbor-ough Secondary, Signal Hill Senior Comprehen-sive, St Clair’s Coaching School — across the seas not just to Trinidad from Tobago, but far beyond to Blackburn Rovers and the peak of his career at Manchester United. The rest, as they say, is history.

Yorke has reached the pinnacle of his career as captain of the Trinidad and Tobago senior national football team which will in a few short days take the field in Germany as captain leading the Soca Warriors at the most prestigious football tournament — the FIFA World Cup. The boy from Tobago is today’s super hero.

There have always been believers, most importantly Yorke himself, who told Sunday Newsday: “I mean, the thing is, there is a lot of expectation. There is no question about it. We are the country with the smallest population going to the World Cup on Saturday. It is an historical day for us. As a team and as a country we should be very proud of that. We have an experienced coach Beenhakker, a man with a wealth of experience.”

Yorke takes the field with his mind on the job this month and memories of those persons in the past who championed his journey to football fame and fortune.

“I was very fortunate to have Dr Eastlyn McKenzie on my side as well,” Yorke said.

Then there was Neil Wilson, the man who signed Yorke’s contract at Aston Villa, literally launching him off on his professional football career. Wilson, who has himself moved up through the ranks and is at present Secretary of Tourism/ Transportation/Enterprise Development/Settlements in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), was president of St Clair’s Coaching School when David Graham spotted Yorke.

Wilson remembers: “I took Dwight to London and attorney-at-law Deborah Moore-Miggins and I negotiated his first contract with Aston Villa. I am very pleased to see what Dwight has done over the course of his career.” Wilson added: “I think all of us in Tobago should be very proud of him and I am very hopeful that he can lead the Soca Warriors to bring even more glory to Trinidad and Tobago.”

Wilson signed Yorke’s first pro-football contract, having been granted power of attorney by his parents as Dwight had then not yet attained the age of consent. But Wilson stressed that a lot of Yorke’s success has to do with Dwight himself.

“Dwight has always been very ambitious, he has always been very hard-working and committed to football,” Wilson said. “I remember when Dwight was going to Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive School, he never doubted that football is what he wanted to do in his life.”

Wilson said not many people saw Dwight becoming a professional footballer, achieving success to the level of playing for a world class team such as Manchester United. But Wilson’s belief is that once a man does the things that he likes, he will excel and Yorke has proven him right.

Although Yorke is grateful for the role played by Wilson, Wilson plays it down. “A lot has to do with Dwight himself. I mean, perhaps, as he himself has said, I was just in the right place at the right time when Dwight was maturing, and I tried to help him as best as I could, as I would probably have helped anybody else.”

Yorke’s family is very modest and they shun publicity. In a rare interview with Sunday Newsday, his mother Grace Yorke, after turning down several previous invitations to functions to honour her world famous son, accompanied him to a reception at Mt Irvine Hotel when the Soca Warriors visited Tobago before their departure to Germany.

Mrs Yorke is not in the best of health, and Dwight is very protective of her. Sunday Newsday was lucky however, to talk with her.

“I am very proud, I have always been proud of Dwight’s achievement,” she quietly told me.

Yorke, himself had a message for today’s youth, too many of whom unfortunately are caught up in deviant behaviour and sadly become statistics in the crime wave now sweeping the country. “Well I hope that whoever is out there is listening. You know I came from a very poor background and I turned that into something very positive. People readily think that you need a chance, but you have to believe in what you want, and certainly, I have to say it, believe in what you want to do and what you want to achieve, and hopefully that one day would come along,” he said.

Yorke then quickly turned the conversation back to football, his mother quietly listening. “Even if we don’t win a match, we have to make sure that we give a good account of ourselves and make sure that everybody gives 100 percent, which I am sure is going to be the case,” he said.

At the same time, he asserts that he could never forget his roots and the “believers” who were there for him, including Neil Wilson, Senator Dr Eastlyn McKenzie and not least Bertille St Clair, former national senior coach, for whom he has nothing but praise.

“Where I am today won’t change my upbringing! “ he stressed.