BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 4, 2020– We’re near to completing our lists of First Division/Senior football players over the past decades, but we keep coming across names we overlooked in our journey down memory lane. Egbert Muschamp, from the Belrovers team of the early 1970s in Belize City, called on Saturday and gave us some names we missed, as well as some corrections. He gave us the birth names for “Cuchi” and “Sam Cooke”, as well as a correction for “Tuta”, who we previously had as Flowers, but is actually Reneau. Also, Egbert told us that one-time Dunlop goalie “Pudd’n” was younger brother to legendary referee Elridge “Rubbage” Hyde; Pudd’n’s first name was Gilbert, not Elridge as we had it. We likewise came across a correction for “Pas” Ellis, who we had named Gilbert like his brother nicknamed “Chico”; Pas’ first name is actually Rudolph. And how could we have missed the one and only J-Vibes, Vincent “Winty-J” Johnson, who was briefly known as Lee Mugger when his idol the Mugger departed for the US in 1970. And a light bulb just flashed, and I suddenly recalled the nickname for my Charger teammate, “Towa” Coburn.
By the way, all personalities pictured in our last issue – Deon McCaulay, “Negro” Hall, Robert “Rabbi Dead” Flowers and Gilroy “Press” Cadogan – are still alive and kicking.
Below we add a few more names and corrections (*) to our growing list of 1st Division players of the past:
Late-1950s to Mid-60s
(Part 5 additional names)
Frankie Clarke
Rodwell “Roddy” Leslie
John Young
John Staine
Conrad “Attila” Vaughn
Fred Gill
Earl “Jenna” Gentle
Lionel “Pops” Hamilton
Rudolph “Pas” Ellis*
Gilbert “Pudd’n” Hyde*
Wellington Labriel
Bernard Aguet
John “Shamba” Dominguez
Mid-1960s to Late-1970s
(Part 5 additional names)
Egbert Muschamp
Hurlington “Towa” Coburn*
Windell “Sam Cooke” Belgrave*
Frank “Cuchi” Dougal*
Vincent “Winty-J” Johnson
“Camel” Haylock
Louis “Tuta” Reneau*
Please send any names we missed (also for 1980s, 1991 to 2000, and 2000 to 2010) to our email address at [email protected], or give me a call or text at cell number 607-8616.
We’re still hoping for answers to two questions we posed: (1) the real name for the great “Negro” Hall of the 1970s and 80s; and (2) the name of the Belize City competition 1960-61 MVP.