J'can trio turns out for Sheffield reserves
BY KAYON RAYNOR Observer staff reporter
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
JAMAICAN players Demar Stewart, Jason Morrison and Rafe Wolfe - all of Portmore United - will get a chance to impress the management of English Premiership club Sheffield United in a reserve match against Championship side Leeds United today.
The game, set to take place behind closed doors, is to be played at Sheffield's Bramall Lane Stadium.
The Jamaicans, who travelled to England last Friday for a one-week trial, do not qualify for a work permit from the British Home Office, having not represented their country's senior team in 75 per cent of their FIFA accredited 'A' games over the past two years.
Stewart and Morrison are currently national senior team players, while Wolfe has represented Jamaica at the Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 levels.
But on Monday, football agent Phillip Graham told the Observer that the players could still secure deals to play in Europe through a special arrangement that Sheffield United have with a top Belgian club (Sparta Rotterdam).
"Sheffield United have a feeder club in Belgium, and the view is these three players are not going to qualify for work permits so there is no chance of (them) getting a contract with Sheffield United.
"However, Belgium is a lot easier than England to get into, therefore, if they impress during this trial period, the idea is to farm (loan) them to Belgium," he said.
According to Graham, the players could thereafter return to England, having completed a naturalisation process.
"If they stay there (Belgium) for three years, they get European passports and if they're good enough, then Sheffield United will have first option to sign the players," Graham explained.
In the past, numerous Reggae Boyz who failed to meet the criteria have been denied work permits by the British Home Office. The incident which saw Luton Shelton failing to ink a deal with English Championship side Burnley in 2005 is one of the most recent cases.
Nevertheless, the experienced Graham, who has successfully negotiated contracts with English clubs for several Jamaicans, hinted that he was using available loopholes to get more local players overseas since he knows the system "as well as anybody".
Meanwhile, quizzed about the Belgian club, Graham could not provide any details, but noted that he would learn more in the coming days.
"I am going to the game with the chairman (Kevin McCabe) of the club, Sheffield United, and with the manager (Neil Warnock) and after that I'm better off giving you more information then," he said.
raynork@jamaicaobserver.com
What are the Trini agents doing for our players
