1966 World Cup defender De La Bastide passes on.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
Former Trinidad and Tobago defender Tyrone De La Bastide passed away on Sunday March 22, 2008, in Whitby Ontario, Canada. The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation wishes to extend condolences to De La Bastide family.
Fondly called the “Tank”, De La Bastide was a member of the first ever National Team to participate in a World Cup qualifying competition for the 1966 World Cup Finals. In 1959, the former Maple great was also part of the T&T contingent of players on a Caribbean team to tour England.
Current Technical Director of the TTFF Lincoln Phillips and former T&T forward Bobby Sookram were both ex-teammates of De La Bastide and were together on Sunday as they shared their feelings on the deceased. Phillips relayed that De Labastide was actually the person to influence him to become a goalkeeper.
“Tyrone was the one who influenced to get involved in goalkeeping,” Phillips said. “I had just left Queens Royal College and I had the option to go to the team that I loved – Malvern and I was going to play as a central defender and I had damaged my ankle which meant I had to go the goalkeeping route if I wanted to play the game. It was 1961 and Tyrone was playing for Dynamos which was a young skillful team but he wanted to win a championship so he moved to Maple.
At the time they had an outstanding defense and with him coming in as a national defender the only thing missing to complete the team was a goalkeeper.,” Phillips recalled.
“He convinced me that I would complete the picture. We went on to play 20 games without conceding a goal. The relationship between us was outstanding. If I made a mistake he would be there to cover. We played for Maple and then together for the national team. He also played for St Mary’s College but I will not hold that against him,” Phillips chuckled.
Sookram also recalled his days growing up with De La Bastide in Diamond Vale. “Tyrone and I went a long way back… some forty years. I started with St Benedict’s College and I first met him at a Red Cross North/South game when he was playing for North and also for the national team I was a young 19 year old representing South in front of the grandstand at the Queen’s Park Savannah.
We both went on to play for the country and he was more like family to me after that first encounter. We grew up in Diamond Vale and would spend long hours talking about football and life in general. We made sure to keep in touch over the years as well,” Sookram relayed.
