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STEPHEN HART was fired as Trinidad and Tobago men’s team coach, the moniker ‘Soca Warriors’ was no longer used and controversy, on and off the field, made for a rough 2016 for football in the twin-island republic.

Hart, the easy-going 53-yearold coach, who was at the helm since June 2013, was issued a ‘red card’ by the TT Football Association (TT FA) after a string of poor results, which saw the squad lose eight out of their 13 international matches this year. 

Trinidad and Tobago’s only victories under Hart’s guidance this year were the 3-2 and 6-0 results over St Vincent/Grenadines in the FIFA World Cup CONCACAF Zone Semi Final Round qualifiers in March, followed by a 4-0 scoreline over the Dominican Republic in October, in a CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifier. 

More controversy followed in December when 43-year-old Tom Saintfiet of Belgium was appointed as Hart’s replacement. Saintfiet, who has never coached at the top level in Europe, and had fleeting stints in Africa and Asia, was harshly told by John-Williams that he had until March 24 and 28 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF Final Round qualifiers at home to Panama and Mexico respectively to prove himself worthy of keeping the TT job. 

Russell Latapy and Jamaal Shabazz, who were both fired as TT coaches in 2010 and 2013 respectively, and who are currently employed by the TT FA (Latapy is the Director of Youth Football and Shabazz is the Technical Coordinator) were named as Saintfiet’s assistants while, as far as the team was concerned, captain Kenwyne Jones and vice-captain Jan-Michael Williams were dropped. 

Trinidad and Tobago lost to Haiti 1-0 on January 8, at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City, Panama, for a place in the 2016 Copa America Centenario in Chile. 

And, on October 11, the national men’s team failed in their bid for an automatic spot in both the 2017 Caribbean Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup – following a 2-0 loss away to Martinique. 

That result heaped further pressure on Hart and the technical staff, and the die was virtually cast in November when the squad suffered two defeats in their World Cup Final Round qualifiers – 2-0 at home to Costa Rica on November 11 and 3-1 away to Honduras on November 15. 

Missing from the last three games (Martinique, Costa Rica and Honduras) was midfielder Kevin Molino, who was dropped from the team by Hart for allegedly breaking curfew, his second indiscretion in quick succession. 

Molino, as well as Mekeil Williams and Joevin Jones, were fined ahead of the September 2 World Cup qualifier at home to Guatemala for leaving camp, unauthorised, to attend a boat ride. 

Until that time, the national team were known as the ‘Soca Warriors’, but the TT FA decided to drop the name from its website, and subsequently discontinued the use of the name, due to a legal matter, regarding ownership rights, between themselves and veteran sports broadcaster Selwyn Melville. 

The decision was made unanimously in a TT FA Board of Directors meeting, following a pre-action protocol letter issued by Melville to the local body over its use. 

Melville has claimed he coined the term “Soca Warriors” 18 years ago and is seeking US$30 million for its use by the local football organisation. 

The TT FA were also in the headlines, following the firing of women’s team coach Randy Waldrum (United States-born) and technical director Kendall Walkes, with Carolina Morace (Italy-born) and Muhammad Isa taking their places. 

The national women’s team has been largely inactive but received a boost late this year with the news that Italian Carolina Morace will take charge. 

There were mixed results for the national youth teams, as the Brian Williams-coached Under-20 team advancing to the 2017 CONCACAF Championship in Costa Rica but the Under-17s, under the guidance of Latapy, were unable to progress from the group stage of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Final Round, which was held in the twin-island republic. 

Central FC continued their dominance of the local circuit with victory in the 2015-2016 Digicel Pro League. But surprisingly not one Central FC player is currently in Nicaragua with new coach Saintfiet for a pair of friendlies as a club vs country row emerged with Saintfiet allegedly insisting that players take part in his training camp even though the friendlies are not during the FIFA window. TT FA president David John-Williams has stated there is an agreement among the Pro League and its clubs that they will release their players for national duty but Sancho has stressed no such agreement was ever in place. 

Sports and Games FC Santa Rosa and Cunupia FC triumphed in the National Super League Premier and Championship Divisions respectively. 

And, in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), Shiva Boys were triumphant in the Premier Division while San Juan North took the Intercol trophy and Naparima the inaugural Big 4 crown.