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TWO’S COMPANY: Otis (left) and Jason Roberts
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Football League players happy to represent their islands
FROM TREBLE winner Dwight Yorke to Ricardo Gardner, Caribbean players have long made their mark in
British football. But less celebrated is the flow of British-born players drawn to the
Caribbean islands of their roots to play international football.
Some may recall Robbie Earle and Marcus Gayle’s exploits for Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz at the 1998 World Cup
but few realise that Blackburn’s London-born striker Jason Roberts has represented Grenada for several years
or that Wigan’s Aylesbury-born defender Emerson Boyce has been capped by Barbados.
DEBUT
One of the first Brits to make the splash was Roberts’ uncle, Otis Roberts, who made his Grenada debut while
playing professionally in Hong Kong in the mid 90s. Roberts spoke to the Voice of Sport
about his call-up: “One day I was sent World Soccer magazine and it had a pull-out with all the national associations in it. So I rang the Grenada FA (GFA) and said ‘You’ve got the World Cup qualifiers coming up and I’d
like to come over’.”
The GFA took a gamble but his new team-mates were less accommodating. “They didn’t treat me as though I was from
there,” said Roberts. “They were talking like my mum and didn’t think I’d understand. It’s important not to go
there with that ‘I’m better than you’ attitude. “You might drop a few hints about professionalism but it has
to be done in a way so that people don’t think you’re telling them what to do. “I embraced the culture and
ended up playing a number of times for them, which I really enjoyed.”
EXPERIENCE
Roberts also played for FC Ghent in Belgium during his well-travelled career. His experience of different cultures
stands him in good stead for his work as manager of the Jason Roberts Foundation, which is working to establish
sports academies in both the Caribbean and the UK. “My view was always to use football and get out into that big world to have a little look. Being in foreign environments has set me up for the work I’m doing. You come out the other side with different views and look at things from a wider angle.” Roberts’ view is shared by a growing
number of Football League players, including QPR midfieler Mikele Leigertwood and Rushden and Diamonds striker Justin Cochrane, who both represent Antigua and Barbuda. “It’s made people realise that there is some value in playing for your national team. It would make your family over there proud and it also brings your
immediate family together.
HOMECOMING
“When me and Jason used to go back (to Grenada) and play we would visit where my mum grew up; people
used to cook us fish and it was a real homecoming.” The relationship is reciprocal with the
islands now looking to England to expand their pools of talent. Roberts spoke of the efforts of the Anguilla FA.
“A lot of Anguillans live in Slough so they set up a training camp there and Ruel Fox was involved at the early
stages. They were bringing in players who played for smaller teams such as Slough and Maidenhead
and were trying to create a World Cup atmosphere.”
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago continue to lead the way but Roberts feels the smaller
islands can develop, if the finances are available. “It’s about neighbouring islands
helping each other to raise the level and getting the teams to play globally.
“Playing the likes of Malta and Luxembourg, having training camps in Europe, and bringing players from
the Caribbean over to England would help them improve.” In the meantime, British-born players
continue to follow in Otis and Jason Roberts’ footsteps to ensure that the sons of Caribbean immigrants do not lose touch with their roots.
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