Unofficial Press Release: Fundraising Gala for Trinidad & Tobago Professional Footballers Association
Hello my fellow Soca Warriors,
This is an unofficial press release for the event! I will endeavour to post the official one as soon as I have it (possibly by tomorrow).
Best regards
Socapro
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Celebrity Sports Fundraising Gala In Aid of Trinidad & Tobago Professional Footballers Association
Here follows the brief:
Several members of the Trinidad & Tobago World Cup squad have decided they wish to form a professional players union in Trinidad. They have completed much of the preliminary work already, and expect Shaka Hislop to become the figurehead for the union next year.
There is a professional league in Trinidad, but players do not have an association to help and advise them, and it is common for injured players not to receive wages and, in some cases, have their contracts cancelled.
This means that many young players leave the game early to take more secure jobs. This makes the world cup qualification by Trinidad & Tobago even more remarkable. Currently, 15 of the World Cup squad play in the UK, but how many more future stars could Trinidad produce if the young players coming through were offered the security that players are offered in Britain?
In this, the centenary year of the PFA, the worlds oldest sporting union, it is amazing that footballers in some countries do not benefit from the same support and security that English based players enjoy. It is only when you talk to players who have never had union backing, that you realize how important it is to have a players association to back you. They ask for your support in helping to get this project up and running.
Together with Gillinghams Trinidad & Tobago players, Brent Sancho, Kelvin Jack and Ian Cox, the PFA is organizing an event to raise awareness within the football community and the general public, as well as raising enough money to fund the operating costs of the players union for the first year. The union should then be able to fund itself in the future.
We have been offered an opportunity by Hackney Empire theatre to host the opening night of the critically acclaimed play “Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads”, a football based play which challenges both patriotism and racism, on Thursday 22nd March. This event will also be strongly supported by the “Lets kick racism out of football” initiative. On the night, there will be a raffle and an auction.
It is important to the Trinidad players that they raise their own money to fund this project, but in order to achieve this aim, we need your help and support. We expect that there will be a strong representation from London based footballers and personalities, and the event has been well received by the media, and we can expect some great publicity and coverage both before and after the event from television companies, radio stations, newspapers and magazines.
In order to make the event successful, it is important to get as much support as possible from the Trinidad & Tobago community in London.
Lets help Make History ....again!
Thursday March 22nd, Hackney Empire, A Fundraising Gala In Aid of the
T&T Professional Footballers Association "Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads" by Roy Williams & Directed by Marcus Romer.
Tickets for this event will be £20. They are also looking to provide an “afterparty” at a venue in Hackney, where people will be able to meet footballers from many London teams as well as some of the T&T World Cup Squad. At the theatre, there will be a raffle with signed football shirts from many English league clubs, and at the after party there will be an auction of Premiership and International signed shirts (including, of course, the Soca warriors!)
There will also be an opportunity to purchase “Lets kick racism out of football” T shirts which will be signed by a T&T player of your choice.
The Trinidad and Tobago players realize that they have lived the dream by playing in the World Cup, but also recognize that for the Islands new talent to come through, young players need to be offered the security that other players around the world enjoy.
I do hope you can support this event, as, in this centenary year of the English P.F.A., we want the whole of the English football community to support the footballers of Trinidad & Tobago and promote the international message of racial integration through football.
Thank you for taking the time out to read this notice!
