Queen's Park mourns loss of two club footballers
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)
TWO members of the Queen’s Park Football Club (QPFC) football fraternity died on Sunday.
The club’s former goalkeeper Raheem “Birdie” Belgrave, 29, drowned at Paria Falls during the day while defender/midfielder Ackime Prudhomme, 24, was gunned down in Arouca hours later.
The pair played on the same QPCC football team. Belgrave was also a member of the T&T Under-17 football squad from 2008-2009 under then-head coach Anton Corneal. He was the son of ex-national senior team manager David Muhammad.
He also joined English football club Wembley FC in 2018.
Prudhomme, however, never made it to the national level but showed promise during his years at QPFC. Belgrave was a former student of Malick Secondary while Prudhomme graduated from St Mary’s College.
Muhammed could not be reached by phone on Monday.
Both deaths sent the QPFC fraternity into mourning. After receiving confirmation of both deaths on Sunday, the club posted short memorials of the two talented players to its Facebook page.
“A sad day for the footballing community and the QPFC family as the loss of two teammates hasn’t fully registered.
“Today (Sunday), along with losing our brother Ackime as mentioned in the previous post, we lost our former goalkeeper Raheem Belgrave.
“The former CIC standout, popularly known as ‘Birdie’ passed away earlier today due to an unfortunate incident in Paria earlier today, where he sadly drowned.
“Raheem was talented and focused but humble as ever and was also a coach at his boyhood club SKHY FC. He left these shores a few years ago and was playing in the UK with Wembley FC for the last few seasons.
“As mentioned in our last post, his former teammate (Prudhomme) also lost his life earlier today. Our brothers will be missed. We wish their family and friends our deepest condolences at this time.”
The club’s previous post highlighted some of Prudhomme’s exploits, at and outside of club duty.
“While still in shock, we remember the joyful and enthusiastic persona that Ackime brought to the squad for the last few years. He was one of the youngest members in the team and was hungry to make his mark every day.
“Ackime was a budding, young entrepreneur with his landscaping business as well. His energy within the team will be missed when we return (to play). Fly high youth! On to better places! R.I.P. Pruddy,” it read.
Additionally, SKHY FC also released a statement on Belgrave’s passing.
He joined the club at a young age while attending St Xavier’s Private School in St Joseph. Belgrave was deemed a “son to the directors and management team of the club, a brother and friend to his colleagues and a mentor to many of the younger members who were fortunate to be coached by him.”
The club’s tribute read, “At a very young age he showed talent and potential and became one of our long-standing members. Raheem was respectful and hardworking. He represented SKHY at all local competitions (junior and senior) as well as at several tournaments overseas.
“After leaving high school, he furthered his education at university and returned to SKHY as part of the senior team and the coaching staff. Raheem was in every sense a valued member of SKHY.
“We will all miss him dearly. A piece of the fabric of SKHY will forever be missing. This has been a trying time for those who were closest to him, and for those with whom he had recent conversations with promises to ‘meet up next week.
“RIP Raheem, Soar with the angels.”
The T&T Football Association also sent condolences to Belgrave’s family and thanked them for his contributions to the youth team 12 years ago.
