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Author Topic: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread  (Read 12450 times)

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Offline palos

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #60 on: October 12, 2017, 09:51:20 PM »
The very first thing Alvin Jones say after de game is that he hope he get a foreign contract

So he would no longer be local based and therefore could not be a part of the core of the squad.

But we have a endless supply of local based talent on the production line so no scene.
« Last Edit: October 12, 2017, 09:53:30 PM by palos »
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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #61 on: October 12, 2017, 10:01:09 PM »
Quote

Quote
He joined with Charles in calling for coach Dennis Lawrence to build his team from home here in T&T, saying the core of the team should be based here in T&T and only include international players who could add value to it for key tournaments.
Had Kevin Verity adopted that approach, perhaps Gally, Barclay, Tony Douglas, Archibald, Steve David etc would not have been on the 1973 World Cup qualifying squad in Haiti

Matter of fact, Verity definitely would not have been coach and some other deserving, excellent. -and knowledgeable local coach would have been in charge of that squad.

Doh even talk about the 2005/06 soca warriors that went to Germany.  Shabazz or Stuart Charles-Fevrier woulda coach dem to Victory there for sure.

And of course that team would have been without Shaka, Lawrence, Dog, Carlos Edwards, Avery John, Birchall, Yorke, Latas, Stern John, Kenwyne Jones, Evans Wise, etc too



He joined with Charles in calling for coach Dennis Lawrence to build his team from home here in T&T, saying the core of the team should be based here in T&T and only include international players who could add value to it for key tournaments.
VITAMIN V...KEEPS THE LADIES HEALTHY...:-)

Offline palos

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #62 on: October 12, 2017, 10:05:15 PM »
So how is what you highlighted in bold any different from what has happened in the past?

More accurately, which foreign based T&T players, in your opinon, DO NOT ADD VALUE TO THE TEAM?  And what would you consider to be a non key tournament?

How are you going to form the core of the team with local based players, yet bring in foreign based players for "key tournaments"?

Maybe I should ask, what is your definition of core?
« Last Edit: October 12, 2017, 10:07:17 PM by palos »
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Offline Deeks

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #63 on: October 12, 2017, 11:29:47 PM »
Had Kevin Verity adopted that approach, perhaps Gally, Barclay, Tony Douglas, Archibald, Steve David etc would not have been on the 1973 World Cup qualifying squad in Haiti


Palos, with the exception of Archibald and Figaro, all the players were local. Gally was back home. He, Barclay were playing with Malvern. Tony was with Civic Centre, Steve was with Police. Dilly was not there. After Haiti, Gally went Mexico and the rest mentioned went to various clubs in the NASL. I understand where Gally coming from, but it would not work today. The access to overseas contract is much more opened today than before. In the 60s and 70s, the NASl was the "only" option. But Gally played both NASL and Mex. Part of the success of that 73 squad was that, the core of the team were home based. Edgar and Ken Henry molded that team together. They got them in the Hex, and TTFA decided that they needed a foreign coach to take them to the WC. They got Verity. With the exception of Archie and Figgy, everybody was home-based.

Then when Gally was coach, he had mostly local players, because hardly anybody was playing overseas except in US universities. He molded that team together. Can that be done again. Somewhat..maybe. If the good local in the core of the national team get contract overseas now, they will go. And there goes your local based scheme. Then if we get a good English player or players, you would want to include them. So Gally will have to change course in today's world of football.
« Last Edit: October 12, 2017, 11:31:46 PM by Deeks »

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #64 on: November 14, 2020, 03:46:38 AM »
Gally Cummings set to launch autobiography.
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).


FORMER T&T coach and player Gally Cummings, 72, will soon release his highly anticipated autobiography. The book, Gally Cummings: The Autobiography, took three years to complete. The date of the launch has not yet been announced.

A media release from Gally’s Football Finishing School said the book offers some critical life lessons and is extremely timely as the country attempts to reset the administration of football. The autobiography provides football fans with an on-the-field view of some of the most exciting and extraordinary moments of T&T’s rich football history. Fans yearning for live football action can relive some of this country's glory moments.

“If they can’t see exciting and entertaining football, right now, in T&T, they can read about it,” said Cummings in the press release.

Gally Cummings: The Autobiography chronicles 60 years of football brilliance as it traces a trajectory of excellence in sport. It explores a legendary journey which began when an eight-year-old Cummings, considered a sports prodigy because of his natural talent, was selected from his primary school to represent the prestigious North Zone All Stars in zonal primary school competitions.

The book captures some of the most intriguing moments of football as Cummings recounts being selected, at 16, for the national senior team; his life as an 18-year-old pioneer of professional football in the US, playing with the Atlanta Chiefs in Georgia, during the heights of the Civil Rights Movement, in the 1960s; a championship career, in the North American Soccer League (NASL), with the New York Cosmos; and the spectacular performances and injustices he faced as the MVP of the 1973 CONCACAF Championships in Haiti. At the 1973 CONCACAF Championships, Cummings and his national team-mates had five goals infamously disallowed against Haiti and as a result fell two points shy of qualifying for the FIFA 1974 World Cup. It is considered one of the biggest regional football scandals that denied one of the greatest TT teams a place at football's biggest showpiece.

Cummings was also a star for Fatima in the Secondary Schools Football League. As national coach for the 1990 World Cup campaign. the Strike Squad fell agonisingly short of qualifying for the World Cup, drawing 1-0 against the US at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

T&T has recognised Cummings for his service to sport as he won the Chaconia Medal Silver in 1989 and the Hummingbird Medal Gold in 1974. The former midfield maestro, who has won multiple T&T Footballer of the Year Awards, has also given back to the next generation of footballers. In 2016, he launched Gally's Football Finishing School in an effort to develop the goalscoring ability of young footballers.

The autobiography is an extensive work that also examines his professional years playing in the Mexican Primera Division, exclusive details of his coaching career and culminates with his analysis of the current state of T&T football. It is described as a riveting and revolutionary story, at the intersection of professional sports, civil rights, players rights, and a vision for T&T football that united a nation.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline maxg

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #65 on: November 14, 2020, 09:59:38 AM »
I wonder if he remember our heart to heart conversation on the docks at Toronto Caribana, even if he didn’t know me. Felt like I was exchanging ideas with a big brother.  He was, maybe still is, quite Influential in my view of football and life. Crawfie did, even after 18 years, shocked the hell outta me.  :-[ Humility and Grace is how I classified those 2 greats.
But Gally probably was the 1 st youth football star I was impressed with in football playing for Fatima, against my QRC stars. I saw him at Paragon practices in the 60’s but never saw him play another game.

Offline Deeks

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #66 on: November 15, 2020, 01:42:12 AM »
In primary school days we heard and read a lot about Gally, Dilly, Archie, and the long list of excellent footballers of the 60s. I first saw Gally played in 68 on CIC ground for Paragon against Maple, POSFL. It just so happened the QRC first formers were playing CIC formers that same evening. Our game started before theirs, so we were able to see the final 30 minutes of their game. Maple was winning 3-1 or 2-1. But the speed and ball control of Gally was amazing. All the the things I was hearing on radio, word of mouth and reading on the newspapers was true. He was friggin damn good.
« Last Edit: November 15, 2020, 01:49:44 AM by Deeks »

Offline maxg

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #67 on: November 16, 2020, 08:55:03 AM »
In primary school days we heard and read a lot about Gally, Dilly, Archie, and the long list of excellent footballers of the 60s. I first saw Gally played in 68 on CIC ground for Paragon against Maple, POSFL. It just so happened the QRC first formers were playing CIC formers that same evening. Our game started before theirs, so we were able to see the final 30 minutes of their game. Maple was winning 3-1 or 2-1. But the speed and ball control of Gally was amazing. All the the things I was hearing on radio, word of mouth and reading on the newspapers was true. He was friggin damn good.
rightfully so, the reason I could relate was as he was not so much older than me, like a Sharkey or Jap...then I saw Archie and Twinkletoes...Deeks, that's when in my mind I went from Track to Football Field. Unfortunately I wasn't a good athlete. Talent without dedication to training.. I didn't see what guys did to be what they were. Today, many youths are similarly enamored by highlights, they play but they don't specific train. They are bombarded with many techniques in this information age, but in many instances do not have the experienced support and advice to help them best choose the technique that is suitable to them. Many trainers, many coaches, but the Elites need Elite coaches. Coaches must learn when to give up and separate the lion that managed to grow with the pack of wolves, they(the Coaches) sometimes tend to not let go, for their own benefit, and they themselves trying to gain their own experience working with a lion, not realizing they restricting that lion from being the beast it could be.
Not every good player will be a star, and some may just be shooting stars, that burn out way to soon.
All to say, environment,support and pertinent advice, are very critical components of any good player development.
I happened to observe some excellent community workers and coaches with youths (Dada comes to mind) from different areas, the only issue I saw very lacking was the support. Those coaches could work with the pack, but with the numbers they were working with, they had very litlle time for separating the best from the herd. The local experts need to volunteer to assist, and not necessarily run their own show. Happened to meet one guy from Patna Village who operated in that capacity, however, as an ex-drug addict and a non-athlete he actually gave all of his time, even if his experience was lacking. We need the experienced guys to play a supporting role, and not just stand aside and comment or criticize if their own ideas are not adopted. jmho.

« Last Edit: November 16, 2020, 08:58:10 AM by maxg »

Offline Deeks

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #68 on: November 16, 2020, 06:30:23 PM »
Those coaches could work with the pack, but with the numbers they were working with, they had very litlle time for separating the best from the herd.

Very true.

Offline Tallman

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‘Gally’ tells his story
« Reply #69 on: November 20, 2020, 03:30:54 PM »
‘Gally’ tells his story
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)


Everald “Gally’ Cummings is a national icon.

Cummings has thrilled Trinidad and Tobago through his football skills since his days as a Fatima college student. He was a senior national team player as a 16-year-old and one of the country’s first players to play overseas in the days when there were few Caribbean professional footballers.

Before a team captained by Dwight Yorke and coached by respected Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker finally qualified T&T for their only FIFA Men’s World Cup in 2006, Cummings had figured in two T&T national teams to have come to the brink of such an achievement.

Cummings was one of three pros in the T&T team which in 1972 faced the world’s greatest player Pele when Santos Football Club of Brazil touched down in the country. He was also a key member of the 1973 team which was subject to dubious refereeing in Haiti when just failing to qualify for the Germany 1974 FIFA World Cup.

Even after his playing days were done, Cummings would cement his legacy as coach of the equally-iconic “Strike Squad”, the T&T national team which in November, 1989 - 21 years ago yesterday, failed by a single point to reach the 1990 World Cup when losing 1-0 to the United States before an overcrowded National Stadium in Port of Spain. A draw would have sufficed. And for the past few years, Cummings has also passed on his experience to youths through Gally’s Football Finishing School.

Cummings is now documenting his life in a 400-page book, which is to be launched at month’s end.

“I think it is about time I tell my story,” Gally said, the autobiography being a glimpse into his inner world and a look beyond the national icon he has become.

“I am letting people know who I am as a person,” Cummings added, “ I want them to see the kind of family structure I belonged too, where I came from, the trial and tribulation I endured.

Cummings hopes his autobiography would be taken in an historic context and that the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sport, and other such institutions, would see it as instructive reading material for youngsters aspiring to rise above the circumstances into which they were born.

“I am hoping that the Ministry and other social institutions would buy the book, to show people the struggles and different things I had to go through, and the kind of exposure I got playing abroad to inspire people. It’s a kind of historic account with historic and memorable pictures.”

The autobiography took Cummings three years to complete and provides football fans with an on-the-field view of some of the most exciting and extraordinary moments of T&T’s rich football history. Fans yearning for good football will be thrilled.

Cummings believes his book offers some critical life lessons, on the state of play, and is extremely timely as the country attempts to reset the administration of football.

“If they can’t see exciting and entertaining football, right now, in Trinidad and Tobago, they can read about it,” said Cummings.
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Flex

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #70 on: December 17, 2020, 11:36:33 AM »
Everald “Gally’ Cummings not optimistic about T&T football.
T&T Express Reports.


Nothing’s changed

FORMER national footballer and coach Everald “Gally’ Cummings sees very little light at the end up of the tunnel when it comes to football in Trinidad and Tobago and blames a series of poor administrators for taking the game to its current low.

“I don’t know where we can go,” Cummings said, “What I know is where we are at this time. It’s something that I predicted.”

Cummings was speaking on TV6’s Morning Edition on Tuesday where he was highlighting his 386-page autobiography, a document of his 60-year journey in local football, which saw him selected to the national team as a 16-year-old Fatima College schoolboy.

His son, former St Mary‘s College standout Gabre Cummings, was responsible for the technical aspects and research on the book which is available nationwide at Nigel R Khan bookstores; Metropolitan book store, located at Capital Plaza , Frederick street, Port of Spain; Charran’s Book Store, Main Road, Chaguanas; and the Paper Based Bookstore, located at Normandie Hotel, St Ann’s.

Cummings lamented the decline over time from when his 1989 “Strike Squad” filled the National Stadium, to now when football lovers are more interested in foreign club teams than the T&T side.

“We have no more loyal spectators in Trinidad and Tobago,” Cummings declared. “We need to bring back the kind of football we played...and that was the type of football we played in 1989.”

Cummings also said there was great need for an administrative reset in local football.

“We need honest people coming into the fray and doing their best, not just for Trinidad and Tobago football, but for Trinbagonians,” he insisted. “We need young people getting involved and understanding the history of Trinidad and Tobago football, so we could get your own (football) administrators—just as we have young professionals.” In his book, Cummings catalogues a long history where local administrators have failed both football and its supporters. He remembers resisting attempts by a team administrator to turn him into a messenger boy in 1966 rather than being a teenage footballer who was selected to the national team. Having been ostracised for making a stand then, Cummings was often at odds with local administrators over his long career as both player and coach.

“I thought they were always about themselves, not the players,” said Cummings, “and that is the same way it is today.”

On Page 269, Cummings referred to the overselling of match tickets for T&T’s World Cup qualifier against the United States on November 19, 1989 as being cruel and criminal.

“If the stadium had crumbled on that day, as the architect confessed to in the Seemungal Enquiry, my entire family, other people’s family and spectators would have all died,” Cummings surmised.

« Last Edit: December 17, 2020, 11:40:36 AM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #71 on: December 21, 2020, 10:02:44 AM »
No room for grey
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express).


Every single person who has ever lived to the age of 40 or beyond has at least one story worth telling.

Obviously only a very tiny minority ever get around to telling that story or attain such prominence that others feel it incumbent to portray that presumably remarkable life and re-tell that particularly unique story every so often and place it in the context of the changing times.

There doesn’t appear though to be a great regard academically for life stories told by, or on behalf of, significant sporting personalities as they are perceived to be quite boringly formulaic with chapters devoted to variations of My Greatest Moment, My Greatest Disappointment and the odd controversy, or even the occasional scandal thrown in to add some spice to what is really a quite tedious narrative.

On the other hand, the really thoughtful, heavyweight contributions seem to lean too heavily towards impressing the professorial types. Take CLR James’ Beyond A Boundary as an example. Since first published in 1963, it continues to be celebrated as a masterpiece of sports writing and socio-political commentary by the celebrated Trinidadian academic and activist.

My simple mind found much of the first half of the book to be very insightful and thought-provoking while the rest of it was a real struggle to make sense of James’ apparent attempt to impress his English audience with references to themes and subjects which could be loosely defined as European classical education.

With Everard “Gally” Cummings’ autobiography, there are no subtleties. Almost every page reverberates with the barely-concealed anger and impatience of someone who feels the story must be told first-person to defend his name and present the “true facts”—Colm Imbert’s trademark phrase which “Gally” repeated in our discussion on Morning Edition on TV6 last Tuesday—because too many have misrepresented too many issues for too long (at least in his eyes) and if it takes 387 pages to address the perceived injustices, so be it.

Somewhere in the Lange Park home of the former national footballer and national coach is an axe handle. Why just the handle? Because the blade has been ground down to the wood and the dust of what appears to be an enthusiastic and long-overdue endeavour is sprinkled liberally across the 25 chapters. If the sub-title as The 60-Year History Of A T&T Footballing Treasure comes across as presumptuous, it is only because the man who broke new ground for this country in the professional game, who starred on the field in the midst of the glaring injustice in Haiti in 1973 and then as head coach when the eventually failed “Road to Italy” campaign in 1989 galvanised the nation as never before, tells his story with the thinly-veiled rage of someone who feels his achievements in the game have been deliberately misrepresented and marginalised across the decades by an array of personalities with an assortment of nefarious agendas.

In what jumps off the pages as “Gally’s” binary perspective there are no shades of grey, just plain old black and white. This in stark contrast to the conciliatory, almost apologetic tone of another former national footballer (and cricketer) and national coach Alvin Corneal, who breezed through a lifetime of experiences on and off the field of play in just 160 pages in 2012 and even when touching on his own encounters with discrimination and injustice seemed inclined to offer the wrongdoers the benefit of the doubt.

While Corneal, a senior national footballer when still at Fatima College more than ten years before Cummings brought similar honour to the same Mucurapo Road institution, is apparently no favourite of the younger man, the real indictment is saved for the irrepressible “Jack” Warner, whose admission of over-selling tickets for the decisive World Cup qualifier against the USA on November 19, 1989 at the then National Stadium is condemned by “Gally” as “one of the most cruel, criminal and treasonous acts ever committed in the history of our small nation.”

By the way, if your intention is to be cast in a good light by the Most Valuable Player at that ill-fated World Cup qualifying tournament in Port-au-Prince, it is clearly useful to be a supporter of the People’s National Movement.

Before getting a copy of the book—gifted by “Gally” himself—I told media colleague Garth Wattley that I expected the autobiography to be like ANR Robinson’s: free of any genuine admission of error of judgement. I was wrong.

“Gally” states that starting Dwight Yorke in the critical USA game was a mistake, yet in explaining that he felt the striker “was trying to preserve himself for his bright professional career,” there is still the inference of selfishness by someone else.

If Everard Cummings was a boxer, I can’t imagine too many fights going the distance.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #72 on: December 22, 2020, 01:37:29 PM »
Gally kicks off book tour in Point Fortin.
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).


EVERALD “Gally” Cummings presented the Mayor of Point Fortin Saleema Mc Cree Thomas with a copy of his just released autobiography.

Thomas is the niece of Tony Douglas, a former team-mate of Cummings. Cummings and Thomas played together on the national football team and for the Cleveland Force professional football team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) in the late 1970s. Cummings, who was the coach of the Strike Squad, began his official book tour at the Victor Chin Kit Park, Point Fortin.

Cummings said, “Point Fortin is the birthplace of other legendary footballers such as Steve David, Warren Archibald, Wilfred Cave, Leroy De Leon and the Douglas brothers. I’m a part of their story and they are a part of mine. Those connections are well documented in my autobiography which is not only my story but the story of some of the most legendary moments of T&T’s football.”

Cummings added, “Every football player, football administrator and football fan should read this book because it will forever change the way you see the game. And you have to read the book to know why.”

Gally Cummings: The Autobiography is available at Paper Based Bookstore, Normandie Hotel, St Ann’s; Metropolitan Bookstore, Capital Plaza, Frederick Street, Port of Spain; Nigel R Khan Bookstores nationwide and Charran’s Bookstore, Main Road, Chaguanas.

« Last Edit: December 22, 2020, 01:43:05 PM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #73 on: December 22, 2020, 01:59:59 PM »
Gally's Strike Squad mask doh look to bad...

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Tallman

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Life and times of the great Gally Cummings
« Reply #74 on: December 28, 2020, 06:45:23 PM »
Life and times of the great Gally Cummings
By Andy Johnson (T&T Express)


HIS parents grew up in downtown East Port of Spain. On St Paul Street, to be exact.

His mother’s name was Ramirez. It was she who told him to love unconditionally.

He was born at the Port of Spain General Hospital, and grew up on the corner of Dundonald Street and Melville Lane at in the heart of the residential and business district in West Port of Spain. His mother told him about loving unconditionally.

He grew up two blocks from the Queen’s Park Savannah, which was at the time the sporting mecca in the city. From early, he was fascinated by the roars and sounds emanating from there. At Richmond Street Boys’ teachers recognised his natural talent from early.

He was proficient all round. In athletics, cricket and football. He ran from the 100 metres to the 400 comfortably. But it was with football that he scaled ordinary heights, effortlessly, even though it required hard work and dedication.

But this autobiography Gally Cummings, The Autobiography is more, much more than the ascent from the streets which in today Trinidad and Tobago, and in Port of Spain in particular, are as mean as they have ever been, to the heights of international fame, respect and adoration wherever he has been. But what stands out above it all is the manner in which Everald “Gally” Cummings narrates a script from which can be learned many of life’s most important lessons along this road, richly, frankly, unsparingly told.

He talks right at the beginning of having “also admired and gained inspiration from some of the renowned sportsmen and artists at the time”, such as Pat Gomez who lived a couple houses away from him. His brother Marcus saved for Shamrock in the Port of Spain Football League (PoSFL). Mike Agostini, the national 100-metre champ of his day, was in the mix. The Lord Christo, known for his popular calypso about the women caught with the “cold box ah chicken chest, under she nylon dress, one morning at Hi-Lo”, was his great-uncle. Bert Inniss lived next door. Christo was also a natural in the role of emcee, and some of that definitely found a place in Gally’s genes, the way he describes many of his encounters and interactions with people at almost every juncture.

How ‘Gally” was born

He talks about being taken to the Savannah with father and falling in love with the game of football.

He went to the venerable Richmond Street Boys’ school, a breeding ground for young talent back in that day. The Gamaldo brothers, his two elder brothers Ellis and Philbert, coming right down to Russell Latapy, are included here.

He describes what it was like as a youngster in his early teens playing for North against South, with players such as Kenny Joseph, Warren Archibald and pros and the like. Fr Knolly Clarke, then a young Anglican priest, played an influential role in his overall development.

He was deeply influenced by the prowess of a man named Anthony Gouviea. “He was known all over town,” Gally writes. “I would hold his gears while on the way to a game, and looked on eagerly as the other boys cleaned their boots and prepared for the game.”

He was six years old when he got the nickname that would follow him until now. A man named Leonard Gilbert thought he looked like a famous boxer of the time, named Galiento. He had also liked boxing. It was, as is usually the case, got shortened to Gally.

He first got his name in the papers after scoring two goals in the Richmond Street Boys’ 4-1 win over Rosary Boys’ in the north zone Primary School championships.

Everyone in the neighbourhood bought the paper to see his photo, another huge motivator for him to do better.

Love for the game

Growing up on Dundonald Street was like a blessing in disguise. Life wasn’t easy at home, but being so close to the Savannah provided him an outlet for his talent and for his ambitions and his dreams, and for the exposure to others who were of merit.

He was ten when he was observed by a Brazilian man watching at the Savannah.

He played mas as a boy in All Stars with his father. The family moved to Nelson Street, and the Dry River was the boys’ playground. “Nelson Street had a lot of life back then. The only small threat of violence was the preserve, exclusive, of the panmen from Renegades, Desperadoes Sun Valley and Tokyo in their territorial wars,” he writes.

He begins talking about his love for the game and how his talent continued to develop. It was in a period in which his parents separated and he moved back to Dundonald Street with his mother. Again closer to the Savannah, the canvas on which he would continue to paint the tapestry of the rest of this charmed life.

He starts going to Tranquillity Intermediate and meeting a lot of older talented boys. On the school team, in an early encounter, he scored four of the six goals they netted against St George’s College. He was 14, but was playing for the under-17 team as well.

At this age he was being propositioned by Paragon, in the PoSFL first division.

“My older Paragon players were very comforting given the circumstances. They gave me the support I needed and respected my talent at that age,” he writes.

He conveys delight at going to Grenada on his first plane trip, at age 17, his side beating the Grenada national team five-nil and then walked over the Grenada league champions four-two. His name was well known over there already, and he describes the experience of being mobbed for his autograph, for the first time.

Turning point

In 1965, at age 17, he was named T&T National Footballer of the Year. It’s important to hear him say this. “When I was coming up you had to put in work playing good for your community and minor league football teams and if you were good enough then you might play for your district in the Port of Spain Football League. If you excelled at the PoSFL you could gain selection to play for the North Zone team against the league All Stars from the other region of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Moving to Fatima from Tranquil and helping the team to win their first Intercol title in 1965 was also a major turning point. He scored both goals in Fatima’s 2-1 victory over St Mary’s, the second one coming after having been dealt a cut over the eye by a St Mary’s “hatchet man.” The joy which came with that, on the jump up from the Oval back to Mucurapo Road was like Carnival Tuesday. “When I saw this huge crowd lifting me up while dancing, laughing and crying, I truly understood what Intercol football was all about,” he writes

Again, there’s something in him that finds expression in his assessments of people. He says of Conrad Braithwaite, that he was someone who was soft-spoken and kind, as a national coach, and what he lacked in terms of tactics and strategy for the ground game, he made up for in kindness and encouragement.

Here is where he describes as The turning Point. It was 1970.

He got married to his childhood sweetheart in January that year, and got involved in the Black Power protest which swept the country at the time. His wife was a dougla girl from Central, going to Bishop’s and staying with relatives in Port of Spain. He had been home after playing professional football for the previous three years in what he called the Jim Crow South, living in Atlanta. This was during the height of the civil rights movement, with Dr Martin Luther King’s operations head-quartered in Atlanta.

The marriage counsellors advised and warned them of the sure disaster which lay ahead. They thought they were too young. He was 22. And there was what he describes as a slight clash of cultures because of her biracial heritage.

“They predicted disaster but we were determined to show them the most successful relationship they had ever seen. Well 50 years later, it’s still standing.”

‘Patriotism builds’

The marches in Port of Spain may have been new to people at home, but not to him at that point. He had been living it. “I marched the streets with Geddes Grander and Dave Darbeau as they were known at the time,” he says.

He defied the advice of the Atlanta coaches to stay off his knees, both of which had been operated on, and joined Malvern in the PoSFL.

In a chapter he calls “Patriotism builds,” he talks about being invited to and taking up the offer to join the New York Cosmos, the team that Pele had played for, when the US went into professional football.

He says in comparison to other teams in the then US pro-league, the Cosmos was like the United Nations, a kind of exception. He recalls the famous game at the Oval against the Brazilian team, with Pele. It was dinner at the Hilton and the Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams, asking to speak with him. The discussion led to the start of the plans to build a national stadium.

With his meeting Jack Warner for the first time, we get an insight into the mind of the ultimate dealmaker. Thirty-five dollars and a picture of Gally and Pele, if he would play in a benefit match for a player in the Central League. He agrees to play. He accepts the priceless picture but foregoes the $35. It is the start of a long relationship between them.

There’s a whole chapter on the famous game against Haiti in 1973, when T&T was cheated out of our first real shot at the World Cup finals.

He was awarded the WITCO Sports Personality of the Year award in 1973. Meeting Sir Gary Sobers and Rohan Kanhai who presented him with the award at that function. He shared the award with Bernard Julien.

He kept a lot of newspaper clippings, such as one from Trevor “Burnt Boots” Smith, essentially questioning how the panel could have equated Bernard’s performance with that of Gally’s, notwithstanding Bernard’s own achievements.

“After winning the CONCACAF Most Valuable Player in December 1973 and then receiving the Sportsman of the Year Award 1974, I was exhausted from the associated media attention and awards ceremonies,” he writes.

Opportunity denied

Then he went to play in Mexico.

“My grasp of Spanish was weak, but I improved my understanding from watching TV and talking to the Brazilian players who spoke Portuguese, Spanish and a bit of English.”

He would then be nominated for the Humming Bird Medal Silver. Whereas he had a special audience with the Prime Minister at dinner after the game with Pele and company at the Oval, he would be invited to meet with the Prime Minister privately.

While on a tour in Suriname, he hears about an opportunity to play for Ajax Amsterdam, reported in the Surinamese press, but nobody in T&T appeared to know anything about it. “I may never know exactly what happened, but it’s certain that I was denied a special opportunity to advance my professional career in Europe. My disappointment felt even more agonising because the ‘lost’ opportunity came at a time when I really needed a professional team to play for. The opportunity of a lifetime escaped me all because of an unknown entity’s contrasting vision of my future,” he writes.

Eric Williams was known for showing his appreciation to progressive women, who were passionate about sports, he writes, reporting on the story of how one Euadne Gordon was appointed secretary of the National Sports Council, and played a pivotal role in setting up the first professional football team in the country, the Pro-Pioneers football club.

There’s also the story about deciding to go to Toronto when his wife was appointed Vice Consul at the Consulate in Toronto in 1977, making the determination to give his children the benefit of that experience.

Juicy inside stories

There’s also this narrative in the book about an experience with Alvin Corneal being appointed national team coach because Edgar Vidale had been sent on training in Germany. Corneal hired his friend Ken Butcher as his assistant, and sent word that if players such as Gally would come to him personally he would consider him.

“I was appalled by his suggestion because players qualify for national selection based on merit not from flattery. At age 31, I had been a national senior team fixture for the past 16 years and I was one of the most recognised and accomplished professional footballers in the CONCACAF region.

“Alvin and I were both Fatima College alumni but different life experiences gave us contrasting perspectives on most important social issues. People should be able to have differences in opinion and still respect each other, value someone else’s talent and appreciate their contribution. I felt disrespected by Alvin’s proposal because I understood exactly what his intention was.”

You must read on from here to see where he went with that. And then there are those tales of the experiences he had with being the head coach of the national team, including the development of what he himself coined Kaisoca Soccer. Also, of being a single parent when his wife took up a scholarship to pursue advanced diplomatic studies in Spain.

There are other juicy inside stories, never really told, such as the one about how Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips defected while the Trinidad and Tobago national team was on tour, in transit, passing through the US, and of how he embarrassed his 12-year-old son during a football camp in DC. He referred to it as a most disgusting affair.

Overall, one gets the sense that this is someone grateful to have had the opportunities to live the life he wanted, pursuing dreams and passions, wisened by learning to handle whatever was thrown at him, remaining rooted, grounded and committed to high ideals, graduating at the top of the class in the school of life.
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

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Gally Cummings: a national treasure
« Reply #75 on: January 07, 2021, 05:14:36 PM »
Gally Cummings: a national treasure
By Professor Theodore Lewis (T&T Express)


Gally Cummings paid me the high honour of reading a draft of his autobiography as he readied it for publication. When someone entrusts you with the task of reviewing and editing his life story, and that person is national royalty, you feel a great weight of responsibility.

I do not think he understood when he handed over his work that I already had the highest opinion of him as footballer and person—an opinion now greatly enhanced having read it, and seeing the depth of his reflective power.

My great task was not to alter in any way the purity of what this remarkable talent and patriot had to tell us about his life. He had earned the right to tell his story in his own voice. He had travelled the world pursuing his gift and passion. You do not interfere with a line laid down by Kitchener. You might make a suggestion here and there, respectfully.

This was phenomenology at its best, a movie of Gally’s life, made by him, played back on the pages of his text with greatest detail, with intelligence, and perceptive insight. This was a life of richness. It could have been so much better had the local FIFA establishment (with other Concacaf countries) not agreed in 1975 to play all our World Cup home games in Haiti! Even so, we got to the final game, in Port-au-Prince, winner goes to Germany. The FIFA cabal, in their heyday then, had it all fixed. We had three goals disallowed in the deciding game.

Gally was voted the outstanding player of that Haiti tournament, and it is a crime that he and other players, among the best we have ever produced, did not get a chance to play in the World Cup.

In 1989, Gally’s Strike Squad was to come up against an American team with Chuck Blazer, their FIFA man. The game brought together Blazer and our own FIFA man Jack Warner. Both were to become bigwigs in Concacaf.

Both to suffer ignominy.

I am happy that Andy Johnson has reviewed the now-published work, Gally Cummings—The Autobiography, in a recent issue of the Express, and think that he did justice to it, and to the man Everald Cummings, who has accepted “Gally” as a name of endearment.

This work transcends football. It is about the life and times of a boy born in Port of Spain in 1948 under what, on the surface, are harsh circumstances. He is kind to his father, who leaves the home.

I share that circumstance with him.

He speaks kindly of his father’s carpentry skills, to be seen on display in the living room. His mother is the rock. His elder brother is his footballing role model.

It is the picture of the life of a young, poor, African boy in Port of Spain that Gally paints—life in the 1950s in Port of Spain barrack yards, that makes this book so much more than football, and so much a contribution to our literature. As this boy grows up, he is seeing Eric Williams go by, and has encounters with him. The founding father of this country waving to this boy each time they encounter each other. Later in his life he was going to have conversations with Williams and would suggest to him the need for a national stadium.

In his boyhood he sees a host of people, now known to be luminaries, go by—Olive Walke, sprint champion Michael Agostini, Bertram Innis, Pat Gomez, national goalkeeper. Lord Christo is a relation. So, on the surface it is a harsh life, in Port of Spain. It is different from a life on the edges of Port of Spain, in places like, say, St Clair or Cascade. But what he sees around him, the people, their talents, is qualitatively rich, and I think a key to understanding why this boy held the memories of this across adulthood.

Then there is the family move to Nelson Street. Here Gally describes football played inside the Dry River, and the river is coming down one day, and a man raises the alarm, causing the boys to scamper up its steep banks, because their lives depended on it. I have seen that Dry River come down—the turbulence reflective of the surrounding hills.

In his prize-winning book, While Gods are Falling, Earl Lovelace paints pictures of Laventille, and talks about the water, but not just water, flowing down the hill, into the city below.

What does a young boy do today if he lives on Nelson Street? Where does he play? Gally reminds us in this book that Port of Spain was once a cultural centre where poverty was the wellspring of creativity, not crime. Where a boy could play.

Has the society not declined?

In 1965 I started travelling from South to attend John Donaldson and made it a point one day to see Gally play for Fatima in an Intercol game. This was a man among boys. An African prince, playing a game different to all others on the pitch. He trapped a ball on his chest. The ball remained there until he shook it off. I had never seen that. He played in an unhurried manner, with lots of time. When I went back to South that evening, I told my Marabella team-mates and friends what I had seen.

Fatima became a nationally known school because of Gally. He was at the heart of their fund raising. And yet, sadly, he writes of the principal, Fr Ryan, ostensibly writing a “recommendation” letter as part of his quest for a football scholarship at an American university, only to find out that the letter cast aspersions on his character. He writes of the principal; thus, “Father Ryan was a Catholic priest of Irish descent. I’m sure he was a good man... but his colonial thinking and racial bias towards me was obvious” (p26).

Some of these prestige schools want the footballer but not the boy. Use them up: spit them out. St Benedict’s under Dom Basil saw both the boy and the footballer. Now the Catholic establishment wants to demolish St Benedict’s, which many believe to be a heritage school.

Why is that recreation ground on Mucurapo Road opposite Fatima not Everald Cummings Park?

On Page 21 of the book, Gally talks in two paragraphs about the biggest game I have ever seen locally. This was national Intercol final between Fatima and St Benedict’s, in Skinner Park, 1965 or ’66. The game was scheduled for 4 p.m. I was there at noon. Rain. Water in my socks. Yes, the roof of one of the stands did come down, with people on it, as Gally describes. Gally was the reason for the crowd. He alone against St Benedict’s. Fatima scored first, but Benedict’s won the game 2-1, with the winning goal by skipper Adrian Chandler coming late.

Gally Cummings’ autobiography is a seminal contribution to our literature, one of the deepest phenomenological accounts we have had. It is a reading on the social history of Port of Spain—an inspiring story about a boy who realised his dream of being a great footballer, travelled the world, then returned home with his family intact, his childhood sweetheart as he calls his wife Roslyn, his anchor; his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren never far. And he, still with that big, warm smile. Still here in this country.

A gentleman to the core. Here, because is here that conceived him. This man, indeed, a national treasure.
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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #76 on: February 08, 2021, 12:10:27 PM »
Ex-Cosmos player, former Trinidad and Tobago national coach Everald Cummings experienced racism first-hand with Atlanta Chiefs in 1968
By Michael Lewis (FrontRowSoccer.com)


Racism can come in many shapes and sizes. It could be overt; it could be covert. It could be systemic.

As a 19-year-old rookie with the Atlanta Chiefs in 1968, Everald Cummings experienced it up close and personal several times.

After one practice, Cummings, who was about to become a member of the Trinidad & Tobago national team, and several African and Caribbean players journeyed to a downtown Atlanta restaurant for milkshakes and hamburgers. They mistakenly sat in the white section.

“People were standing and looking at us like, ‘Are you guys crazy?’ ” Cummings said in a 2018 interview. “Then, one guy came over and said, ‘You guys can’t sit here.’ We were soccer players. We were starting soccer in the United States, so we didn’t know. That’s what made the success in 1968 so beautiful. We had so many obstacles, but we made it.”

Needless to say, Cummings’ first professional season in the United States certainly was an eye-opener and a half.

Not only did he find himself a stranger in a strange land with some new and strange customs while performing for the Chiefs, he was thrust into the American South, which was still in the midst of lingering segregation and racism.

He and the Chiefs’ black players experienced it firsthand while the team was establishing itself as the first NASL champions in 1968.

That included four African players (Zambia forwards Freddie Mwila and Emment Kapengwe, Kaizer Motaung and Ghana defender Willie Evans) and three Caribbean players (Jamaican forward Allan Cole and midfielder Delroy Scott and of course, himself.

Cummings, who later played for the Cosmos for two seasons eventually coached his country in the game in which Paul Caligiuri’s goal boosted the U.S. into the 1990 World Cup, remembered several unsettling incidents that made for one huge culture shock.

“I didn’t know about Martin Luther King, racism, segregation and bigotry,” he said, although he would learn about the American legend soon enough. “So, when I got there it was sort of a reality check for me.”

He discovered how different things were in the USA early on when the team booked Cummings into a downtown hotel. He discovered quite quickly that the hotel essentially isolated him from other guests.

“For the first week, I thought was the only guy staying in the hotel because they put me in an area where I couldn’t come in contact with anyone,” he said. “The only time I saw people was when I came downstairs to have breakfast. They were so strategic.”

Eventually, Cummings moved out of the hotel into a residence with several Jamaican players.

The Chiefs’ African and Caribbean players lived in the black area while the Europeans housed in the white area, he said.

“It was difficult for us to communicate after practice,” Cummings said. “If the white players from Scotland or England and had a function and their wife had a baby and they had a christening. We couldn’t go. We couldn’t go to the white area.”

After one practice, Cummings and several African and Caribbean players journeyed to a downtown

When he had to buy two suit and a sports coat at a well-known downtown clothing store, Cummings received another shock and insult.

“It was sort of an expensive store and I had an Atlanta Braves credit card,” he said. “When I presented the card, the manager took the card and went upstairs. I was there for one hour. They called Atlanta Braves stadium to find out where did I get this card from. They had to explain to the manager that this guy is one of the soccer players with the Atlanta Chiefs. I found out the next day what [they] did. … They didn’t know I was from the Caribbean. They saw me as a black person. We had those teaching problems all the time.”

Ironically, Cummings said he felt more at ease at the team booster club functions after games at the stadium.

“I felt very comfortable,” he said. “Those were white people. They saw us as soccer players. What was very strange was we were on six month working visas, So, when six months were up, we had to go back to our country. When I came back to Trinidad, everything was normal. Everybody lives together [there]. When I had to go back to Atlanta, it was something different. It was like changing of the guards all the time. This was difficult for me at that age.”

Well, at least Cummings had a home where life was normal Some players, such as South African standout Motaung returned to a country that thrived on apartheid, even though blacks outnumbered the white population by an 8-to-1 margin.

Cummings, nicknamed Gally, remembers Chiefs head coach Phil Woosnam, who went on to become NASL commissioner, telling him a story when he traveled to South Africa to sign Motaung.

“He had to sign him in a taxi,” he said. “He was in the front seat and Kazier was in the backseat. He couldn’t go to a restaurant, how it’s supposed to be done. What was amazing, I got to understand the white people in Atlanta and how it was back then. I also got to understand my brothers from their homeland in Africa. I got to find out how they lived and how we sort of were indoctrinated because of colonialism in the Caribbean. They were just Africans, and nobody could tell the difference.”

During his four years in Atlanta, Cummings said he learned countless lessons from that “reality check.”

“It made be a better player,” he said. “It made me more conscious, understand people a little more and make me understand myself as a human. So, Atlanta, even though it had problems, I learned a lot. It was a lesson for me. Today, I can associate with anybody and have a conversation. As you grow older you understand the system and it makes you a better person.”
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Re: Everald "Gally" Cummings Thread
« Reply #77 on: February 13, 2021, 03:26:05 PM »
Fatima Class of '75 honours Gally.
T&T Guardian Reports.


Fatima College was on Wednesday gifted 50 copies of Everald ‘Gally” Cummings’ autobiography.  

The Fatima Class of ’75 made the presentation to Principal Father Gregory Augustine in the presence of national icon Gally Cummings, who was honoured by the recognition.

Cummings, “Thank you, Class of ’75. I will be forever grateful to Fatima College for what they have done for me and others," said Cummings, a former national player and coach of the Strike Squad.

"I thank them for setting the example for me being a successful and good human being. Fatima College through Clive Pantin, Fr Gerard Farfan, Noel Pouchet, Mervyn Moore and others have inspired me to always have a clear conscience, the courage to speak the truth and the importance of being authentic. Nitendo Vinces. By striving we shall conquer.”

The group believes that Cumming’s story of determination, discipline and resilience should be heard by young people, saying: "The Fatima Class of ’75  wants our young people to learn more about Everald “Gally” Cummings and what is possible when you add hard work and honesty to whatever talent you have."

Several other schools will be presented copies of Gally's autobiography including Mucurapo East Secondary, Mucurapo West Secondary, St James Secondary, Woodbrook Secondary, Tranquility Secondary, St Mary’s College, Queen’s Royal College, St Anthony’s College and all schools in the Secondary Schools Football League's (SSFL), Premier Division.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Cummings, Morris remember Rudd-Ottley
« Reply #78 on: April 23, 2021, 03:06:23 PM »
Cummings, Morris remember Rudd-Ottley
T&T Express


Coach of the 1989 national football team Everald “Gally” Cummings was yesterday mourning the loss of a key member of his technical team, behavioural psychologist Shirley Rudd-Ottley.

Cummings confirmed that Rudd-Ottley died yesterday.

She was part of the unit that got within one match of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, only to fall short after a now infamous 1-0 defeat to the United States at the National Stadium.

Ottley had also worked with the Trinidad and Tobago team in 1973 when Cummings was a player on a squad that was controversially denied a chance of reaching the 1974 world Cup during a qualifying series in Haiti.

“A lot of the development of the players in 1973 and 1989 was because of her being part of the technical staff,” Cummings said.

He added:”She instilled confidence in the players. She used to have a lot interaction with the players. When players had personal problems in the camp and they went to her, when they came back they were 100 per cent better in spirit. All I had to do was put them on the field,” noted Cummings.

He also spoke further about Rudd-Ottley’s influence on his own work as the Strike Squad coach.

“Before I select my team I would talk with her,” he said.

“She helped me a lot as a coach. That insight helped me. She was always there. If I had a problem she would guide me accordingly. I had a lot of confidence in her.”

He described the psychologist’s professional relationship with the coaching staff as “near perfect.”

Also reacting to Rudd-Ottley’s passing yesterday was Strike Squad captain Clayton Morris.

“The first time I was exposed to psychology was with Shirley Rudd-Ottley,” he said yesterday.

Speaking of the sessions the Strike Squad had with the woman Cummings described as the “mother” of the team, Morris said:”We used to be planning our short medium and long-term goals. She really put the icing on the cake in bringing the practical together with the theory. He described her death as a “big loss.”

“Very, very nice person, very passionate in what she did. A beautiful soul. Wherever we go (Strike Squad players) she is in our heart,” he noted.
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

 

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