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Author Topic: Richard Braithwaite Thread.  (Read 7836 times)

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Offline Socapro

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #30 on: January 17, 2015, 08:31:15 PM »
Sincere condolences to all his family, friends and associates.  :(
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

Offline davyjenny1

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #31 on: January 17, 2015, 09:27:34 PM »
wow... We had some good conversations  back in the early days, a sad loss. Extended condolences go out to his family....
« Last Edit: January 17, 2015, 09:48:11 PM by davyjenny1 »
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Offline Flex

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #32 on: January 18, 2015, 05:16:59 AM »
Ex-manager Richard Brathwaite dies
T&T Express Reports.


Former national football administrator and senior team manager Richard Brathwaite died yesterday after a bout of illness.

Brathwaite, who  had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Port of Spain General Hospital in early January, had initially improved. He deteriorated again and was admitted to the San Fernando General Hospital recently where he died.

Brathwaite was the national senior team’s football manager between the years 1996 and 2000 and from 2004 and 2005, and was a member of the FIFA Technical Development Committee from 2001 to 2006.

He was presented with a Prime Minister’s award in 1998 for his contribution to the development of sport in Trinidad and Tobago and was the main man behind Bertille St Clair’s two national senior teams, coaching stints between 1996 and 2000 and 2004 and 2005.

Braithwaite was also involved in a number of football clubs in the South region, including Trintoc and United Petrotrin (a merger of Trintoc and Trintopec), and he also served on the FIFA Technical Development Committee as a CONCACAF Director of Development.

More recently Brathwaite also wrote a column on social issues and politics for the Trinidad Express.

Selby Browne, vice-president of the Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT) expressed sadness on receiving news of the passing of  Brathwaite, “Richard was a fine and forthright man of good character and a true lover of football. In his heart he quietly sought the development of football in Trinidad and Tobago.”

« Last Edit: January 18, 2015, 05:21:27 AM by Flex »
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Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #33 on: January 18, 2015, 05:44:02 AM »
RIP

Offline Deeks

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #34 on: January 18, 2015, 10:46:15 AM »
Condolences to the Braithwaithe family. RIP "Rat". I first noticed Richard playing for Saints second eleven on Saints ground in the 70s. For a tall and big guy he had pretty good ball skills. Then the next year he came to QRC to do A levels. He was from St. Anns and was good friend with David and Rex Barrow who were playing for QRC at the time. They were part of the Soul City that played in the POSFL juvenile league. "Tom " Phillips was part of that team.

I remember him scoring for QRC on Fatima grounds against a Wayne Lewis Ron LaForest Belmont team. He controlled a high pass to him and scored from about 15 yards. We lost 2-1. He was  a "bright Boy" and was very articulate when the situation was appropriate. But I also remembered him  as the ultimate "shit talker". When we used to travel to South for games in a small bus. It was he who dominated the jokes from POS to Sando and back.
Go brave Breds. God Bless.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2015, 02:06:53 PM by Deeks »

Offline Tallman

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #35 on: January 19, 2015, 01:10:05 PM »
The funeral for former T&T football manager, Richard Braithwaite, will be held on Thursday January 22nd from 9am at the St Patrick RC Church on Picton Street, Newtown and then to the Crematorium at Long Circular Road, St. James.
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Offline vb

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #36 on: January 20, 2015, 08:22:47 AM »
My condolences to the Braithwaite family.

Many years ago on Marc Purcelle's site, I came up with a blue print to have a TT football supporters Club.

I showed it to Marc who never answered me and then two weeks later told everyone he had an idea for a Supporters Club.

I disseminated amongst the regulars at the time. Not for nothing would the TTFF answer me. Phone calls, emails and faxes. Of course I had the audacity to request that we be informed on what the money (that would raised) would go towards.

RB heard about the lack of response came on the forum and asked to have a copy sent to him.
Nothing ever really happened. But he and I had a  loooong chat a year later. He had told me to keep in touch and followed my Carib Sport site.

In a nutshell he was aware of the shortcomings of the administration and the lack of communication/transparency.

He said that he had told them about his misgivings. He added that one day he would have a book published - too bad that didn't happen. I'm sure it would have made for good reading.

He seemed like an approachable man.

I'll say the team had some serious momentum in 1999/2000. We beat Colombia 4-3, we lost 2-3 to Hond., Stern flew in the day of or just before the game and scored a double. We also had good results vs. S. Africa, Guatemala and C. Rica. The Canadians openly admitted how lucky they were to beat us 1-0 in the semis.

But the focus here is Richard Braithwaite. There are those who knew him better than I so I'll let them talk. But from what I knew he was a cool guy.

RIP Richard.
VITAMIN V...KEEPS THE LADIES HEALTHY...:-)

Offline Trevor

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #37 on: January 20, 2015, 09:11:58 AM »
Richard Braithwaite was a lovely person.  He liked plenty ole talk, and he was such a gentleman.  Just a couple months ago, he and I were talking some chupidness via email.  Richard played a major part in the early goings of the 2006 World Cup campaign.  RIP, brother!

Offline spideybuff

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #38 on: January 21, 2015, 10:56:34 PM »
Nobody post the Nakhid story\obituary here?
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Offline spideybuff

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #39 on: January 21, 2015, 11:03:49 PM »
Bertille, Braithwaite and I: Nakhid recalls two memorable Gold Cups.
By David Nakhid (wired868).


Former T&T football captain David Nakhid recalls the work of late manager Richard Braithwaite during two tumultuous Gold Cup campaigns

Wavering between reluctance and tacit acceptance, I feel an obligation to pen some of the experiences and times that I shared with the man commonly referred to by most players as “Manage” and the gentle, principled giant I knew as Richard.

My reluctance stems from the realization that we are a people of words unburdened by actions. How best then to procure the appropriate recognition and acclaim for a man who was without a doubt the best manager in Trinidad and Tobago’s football history—Richard would have hated that bit of hyperbole—from a public famous for its acquiescence to official dogma?

As our so called ‘leaders’ past and present—superfluous in everything but the basic principles and integrity needed for public office—are deified by a partisan public, the deserving along with their accomplishments are discarded only to be remembered upon their deaths with hypocritical sentiment and expansive eulogies.

I knew little of Richard’s personal life as he was a very private man. But I was captain of the National team for most of his six or so years as ‘Manage.’ It is Impossible then for me to reference Richard without referencing the Coach that he worked with for the better part of those years and the dynamics and sparks that emanated from that very successful relationship.

Bertille St Clair was not an easy man to work with. But then most principled people within a distinctly third-world mentality environment tend to be branded as ‘difficult.’

Bertille St Clair is a man of principle and integrity… and then some!

Richard, who was unassuming, diplomatic to the nth degree, visionary and, over all else, action-oriented, was the perfect foil to the stubborn, energetic, demanding, unapolegetic, highly-driven disciplinarian that is St Clair. Their union was an historic turning point in T&T’s footballing fortunes and direction and their statistical record is indicative of a productive connection.

At the time, our senior team struggled for even token support from a TTFF that, from the onset, placed obstacles in our way. There were no proper training camps, no access to proper training fields, inadequate training provisions and the list went on and on… Richard begged, borrowed and cajoled as we prepared against the tide for the 1997 edition of the Caribbean Cup.

Bertille and I put our complaints to the media several times but there was no reaction from anyone. As Bertille would accurately say: “If this was Mexico somebody house burning down!”

Richard always managed to get us through to the next level of training and our group of players, although not our best team, responded magnificently.

When we arrived in St Kitts, we were firm underdogs, our fiercest rival, Jamaica, was bound for the ‘98 World Cup and established favourites. Understandably, all their best players were there seeking selection for France. The TTFF ignored all requests by Richard and Bertille to bring back our best players. No money was the reason given.

Jerren Nixon, Peter Prosper and I were the only overseas players. Jamaica completely outplayed us for the first 45 minutes of that epic semi-final. Their extensive and well-financed preparations were evident. But Bertille’s impassioned talk at half-time and a typical low-key, matter of fact statement by Richard pushed us to turn the tables dramatically and remains with me to this day.

“Fellahs, Jamaica playing with their eyes towards France,” said Manage. “Allyuh playing for the next 5 years of your lives!”

Every player got Manage’s message. We knew the TTFF was waiting like vultures to fire Bertille and Richard and axe some of the “difficult” players involved. We went on to dominate the rest of the game including extra time and eventually beat a mentally and physically drained Jamaica on penalties. The lifting of the Caribbean Cup was a mere formality after that.

I never felt that (then TTFF general secretary) Richard Groden liked Richard, Bertille and I being the de facto leaders of the National team. To our faces, he and (then president) Oliver Camps were courteous and full of praise but their actions consistently suggested malicious intent. As we set out with the team on a pre-Gold Cup Central American tour, which Richard had incessantly pushed (FIFA vice-president and TTFA special advisor) Jack Warner to organise, we heard that the TTFF bigwigs said our team would be an embarrassment and we should return home.

Richard and Bertille stayed the course and convinced everyone to believe as we suffered defeat after defeat during our preparation. The results were splashed on the newspapers by the TTFF with accompanying remarks but no-one knew what we were doing.

Bertille had us training in the morning for a full hour and sometimes two before playing against teams also preparing for the Gold Cup. We lost to El Salvador (0-1), Guatemala (1-3) and Costa Rica (0-4) but there was a growing confidence among the team as Richard man-managed his heart out, acting as Manager, resident psychologist and educator.

Clint Marcelle and Stern John joined us as we received not a word of encouragement from TTFF or even a visit to our hotel. Gold Cup ‘98 witnessed the best football played by a T&T team at the region’s highest level tournament until now.

We beat Honduras 3-1 and left them wondering out loud at the post-game press conference if this was the T&T team they had seen two weeks prior. Mexico, who eventually beat Brazil 1-0 in the Gold Cup final, had a similar experience. Their famous coach Manuel Lapuente kicked over buckets of Gatorade on his way to the dressing rooms at half-time.

Mexico ran out 4-2 winners to eliminate us but only T&T was able to register goals against one of Mexico’s greatest ever teams. This was no second-rate team here, we knew we were onto something great.

Warner, ever the self-serving pragmatist, kept Richard, Bertille and most of the team amidst protestations from some of his own TTFF officials. But I had seen enough.

After beating Jamaica 2-0 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on 28 March1999, I announced my retirement, furious at the lack of respect shown to Richard, Bertille and the local players.

Richard constantly implored the TTFF for help in implementing a comprehensive programme to prepare for major tournaments. Jack and the TTFF would host some overseas players in separate hotels (until Richard and Bertille shut that down) and paid some of us 10 times the amount paid to local players as match fees.

Richard’s insistence was the reason that player payments became more streamlined and equitable, which eliminated the rancour and bitterness felt towards some of the overseas players.

It was Richard’s call to me with Bertille in the background that pulled me back into the national set-up for the Gold Cup 2000. The pre-tournament trip to Morocco was a sign that we had a team of genuine difference makers. Russell Latapy was his usual genial self while news that Dwight Yorke would be joining us engendered a feeling of ‘our time now.’

The team put together by Richard and coached by Bertille went on to create history for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2000 Gold Cup.

There was little doubt as to which team was the better when we lost to the eventual winners, Canada, in the semi-final. My penalty miss proved decisive.

What was made known to the public by Jack and his TTFF cohorts were the huge amount of salaries being paid to the players, as the team held several meetings to seek better conditions for future players and less interference from Jack and his lackeys.

We would learn later who was keeping Jack informed about details of the meetings and that both Richard and Bertille were in full support of the players. Little is known to Jack and the public until now that Enrique Sanz, who was our Gold Cup liaison and is now CONCACAF general secretary, had formed a strong bond with Richard and myself and warned us what was ahead.

After victory against Guatemala took us into the Gold Cup quarter-finals, Enrique came to Richard, Bertille and myself and related what he had just witnessed in Jack’s VIP box. Groden, Camps, Jack and some other lesser known lackeys were jumping for joy when Guatemala scored while cursing when T&T scored and eventually won.

The look on Richard’s and Bertille’s face, I will never forget. These two battle hardened men had virtually experienced every low possible from a TTFF bent on seeing them fail; but this was unimaginable! Their disappointment and anger was palpable.

To Richard’s immense credit, he managed to pull Bertille and himself together and, very much against their wishes, I told every single player about what was witnessed in that VIP box.

Against all expectations, we beat Costa Rica in the quarter-finals and were coming together as a team. We knew that Jack effectively played a major part in Dwight not returning (from Manchester United) to play in the quarter-final or semi-final.

(Yorke played in Trinidad and Tobago’s three group stage matches but was allowed to return to Manchester United for the knockout stage although FIFA rules priorities a Confederation’s tournaments).

The die was cast. Richard, Bertille, Nixon and myself were axed. A team that I am more than certain would have qualified for the 2002 World Cup with most players in their prime was decimated on the whim of a football illiterate and facilitator of corruption.

Both Richard and Bertille, with their reputations and integrity intact, would make their returns and lay the foundation for T&T’s eventual successful run to Germany World Cup 2006. I knew Richard was as equally happy as he was heartbroken that we had qualified but that he could not be there as manager.

True to form and his immense character, he took it in his stride and never let on.

Bruce Aanensen, an all-round nice guy and affable enough, brought nothing special to the table as manager of the National Senior Team in comparison to Richard. But maybe I am being unfair to Bruce as Richard set the bar extremely high.

Other than the honesty and passion in carrying out his duty, I will remember our after-dinner conversations.

Bertille and I invariably were always demanding something to be better, changed, redone or brought in. Richard would look across the table and exclaim with a shake of his head and smiling from his heart: “Why de two of allyuh so damn miserable?!”

Rest in Peace, Richard. Be assured that your work done and it was done well. There are statistics for the lives transformed under your leadership.

But the ignoring of your own health issues to make sure you fulfilled the many demands placed on you and so that all conditions were in place for good performance can never be accounted.

Take comfort on your eternal journey knowing that you are loved and appreciated by those who knew and those unafraid to speak.

Your walk back into the dressing room for the last time is not alone or in vain but accompanied by those who hold dear Trinidad and Tobago football.

« Last Edit: January 22, 2015, 09:21:31 AM by Flex »
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Offline Cocorite

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #40 on: January 22, 2015, 04:29:51 PM »
Ooh Guuude! Well written as usual David.

Thanks to Richard. RIP
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Offline davyjenny1

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Re: Richard Braithwaite Thread.
« Reply #41 on: January 23, 2015, 05:42:15 AM »

From: The Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/sport/2015-01-23/braithwaite-laid-rest


..as footballers come out
Published:
Friday, January 23, 2015
Pall bearers Brian Gent, and John Brathwaite carry the casket bearing the body of former T&T football team manager out of the St Patrick’s RC Church, Newtown, through a guard of honour from members of the Trintoc 1980-1995 team at the funeral service for former national football team manager Richard Braithwaite at the St Patrick’s RC Church, Newtown, yesterday. Photo: JEFF MAYERS.

Former T&T men’s football team manager Richard Braithwaite was cremated yesterday at the Long Circular crematorium in St James following a church service at the St Patrick RC Church,

Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain.

Richard passed away on Saturday afternoon at the San Fernando General Hospital following an illness.

Braithwaite, 60, a former employee of Petrotin in the 1980 and 1990s, was the founder of Trintoc football team which campaigned in the TTFF South zone until the merger that formed Petrotrin.

He also played a key role in the formation of the Petrotrin football team before he served with the company in late 1990s.

The native of Cascade and dubbed the adopted son of Point Fortin, Braithwaite was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Port-of-Spain General Hospital on January 4.

Before his national stints he was an outstanding player with Soul City of Cascade.

He was the national football manager between the years of 1996 and 2000, and again 2004 and 2005.

He was a member of the Fifa Technical Development Committee from 2001 to 2006 and was presented with a Prime Ministerial award in 1998 for his contribution to the development of sport in T&T.

He leaves to mourn his two daughters Chantel and Sherice and wife Paula. Rest In Peace friend.
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Offline Tallman

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Former players remember late manager Braithwaite
« Reply #42 on: February 23, 2015, 05:34:31 AM »
Former players remember late manager Braithwaite
T&T Newsday


FORMER NATIONAL football team manager Richard Braithwaite has been remembered for his humility and the work he did to inspire youngsters in the game.

The 61-year-old Braithwaite passed away in January after a brief illness.

According to ex-Trinidad and Tobago team midfielder and coach Everald “Gally” Cummings, “we were youngsters playing in Port of Spain. He was with a team called Soul City and I was a little guy playing with Glory Guys. Those were community teams.

“He had always had a love for people, for communities and anything that was positive and good,” he continued. “I remember in the old days, before Trintoc (team) was started, I was coaching with him, organising all the players and getting things together. He was a visionary.”

Cummings, the only footballer to be named as Sportsman of the Year, stated that Braithwaite will be remembered mainly for “the fact that he made a group of people strong. He would come in to a programme that wasn’t functioning and put it on top of the world. He had ability to motivate people and to keep the car going, even if it didn’t have gas in it.”

Another former Trintoc player and national striker Philbert Jones described Braithwaite as “a lovely man, a very nice person.

“He always cared about the youths, especially where sports is concerned,” Jones, uncle of national captain Kenwyne Jones, added. “When he saw a player with potential, he (would look) to develop them. He was always willing to help you, so long as you give him that kind of response, he would always be there for you, as an individual.”

Another player with fond memories of Braithwaite was ex-national utility player and captain Anthony Rougier.

“Braithwaite had impacted my life tremendously, from a perspective of the person that I am today and what I have become,” said Rougier. “He saw something in me from the early days of me never sniffing of what a national team has been like.”

Rougier added, “I do believe what he has done for football is a great as anybody else in the country, not only in my life but I know for a fact that my children know who he was. When I became a professional footballer, he was one of the guys who was instrumental in making that happen.

He continued, “he also installed a lot of belief in myself, my confidence in who I am, it’s all because of the grace of God. But God uses men, and I do believe that Brathwaite was one of the guys that God used. I owe a lot of who I am today to him. One of the main reasons for me coming back to Trinidad seven years ago was Richard Brathwaite as well.”
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