BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Apr. 27, 2022 — Belize City fans first took notice of footballer Christobal Mayen when he visited the MCC during its heyday in the late 1960s-early 1970s as a wing forward on the then Belize City champions San Joaquin, who were back-to-back champions in 1969-70 and 1970-71. The 1971-72 season was incomplete due to a controversy that erupted late in the season when it appeared that the Spurs football team was on the verge of claiming the championship.
According to another 1970s football great, goalkeeper Rupert “Canalete” Anderson, R.I.P., Christobal had previously played some senior football with him on a declining Brodies team probably around 1967-68, and also the following year on a team named Belize Global, which achieved a big upset victory over the then highly rated Rocking-R team out of Cayo that featured many of the later Avenger stars. Migrating from southern Belize, as did his brother, the legendary Locario “Malanga” Mayen, Stobal had later moved further north to join his elder brother in San Joaquin.
At some point over the next couple years, ‘Stobal came to reside in Belize City, and was involved with a young group of players from the Lake Independence area, who had entered the senior division competition as Berger Lakers in the 1973-74 season, in which they placed 3rd. The team was at the time being managed by popular market butcher, Lester “Bailar” Smith, but it is not yet clear if he actually recruited Stobal from San Joaquin to join his bunch of youths. What is certain is that his football abilities and natural leadership skills saw Stobal quickly become a major force on the team, and he soon assumed the role of player/ coach. Having once been with a championship team, Stobal obviously knew what it took to become a champion.
As his former teammate with San Joaquin, Stobal at some point lured another legend, Raymond “Lee Mole” Alvarez to join him with the Laker boys, now with the sponsorship of Berger 404, and that duo remained steadfast through a number of years. With Stobal’s leadership, Berger 404 won back-to-back Belize City championships in 1974-75 and 1975- 76.
That success was soon thwarted, as the team essentially split in half, with some players following manager Bailar with a new team, Chito’s Rangers, sponsored by Chito Mai of Orange Walk. The rest stayed with Stobal and Berger 404, who also eventually had some changes of sponsor, thus the team name change in ensuing years to Witz All Stars, Haig Dimple and Belikin; while Bailar’s group also later changed a few sponsors and team names, including Royal Rental, BTA Lakers and Duurly’s. Eventually, in the latter Christobal Mayen, football legend 80s, the two camps reconciled, and the team out of the Lake was named Duurly’s Belikin or Belikin Duurly’s with Christobal Mayen as head coach. Except for the 1983-84 and 1985-86 city competitions won by Milpros teams from the Plaza (sponsored by Parra’s and Coca Cola, respectively), all the Belize City championships from 1977- 78 until 1990-91, after which the semipro league was launched, were shared between the two teams from the Lake, and Stobal figured prominently as player, player/coach and finally as coach. (Note: Although Bailar was manager, Chito’s consisted of players from various districts, but mainly Belize City and Orange Walk.)
Aside from his many championships over two decades, among the highlights of Christobal’s sterling football career in Belize before migrating to the US sometime in the 1990s, was leading his team, then named Belikin, to the first national club competition championship in the 1981-82 season to commemorate Belize’s Independence in 1981. And before that, in 1978 Stobal was player/coach of a Belize selection accompanied by then BFA vice chairman Evan X Hyde that went undefeated through 5 games played in Mexico. Featured on page 94 in the X’ s book, “Sports, Sin And Subversion,” many fans have considered that team one of the best Belize selections ever . Of course, not all the players on the team were necessarily the best in Belize City or the country at the time, but the enormous talent assembled and the cohesion and chemistry the team enjoyed resulted in success on their international tour that has not since been duplicated.
This is by no means a complete documentary of the football career of Belizean football legend, Christobal Mayen. We do need to hear many more important details of his career “from the horse’s mouth;” but just to refresh the young minds of today’s players about the footsteps they are aspiring to walk in, we share below a brief excerpt from an Amandala newspaper story from the past datelined: MCC, Sun. Oct. 17, 1976.
The story, titled “Christobal of Berger 404,” begins like this:
Christobal of Berger 404
MCC, Sun. Oct. 17, 1976
“The first division marathon opened with a flourish this morning and it was dominated, fittingly, by Christobal Mayen, leader of defending marathon and season champions Berger 404.
“After a marchpast of the eleven competing teams this morning and a sensible opening address by the Hon. Senator Said Musa, himself sponsor of a junior team, the tournament began. After it was all over, Berger 404 emerged again as champions having defeated Charger 1-0, Marine and Service 1-0, White Label 1-0, and Roses 1-0. The champion scored in all four games and on three occasions it was Mayen.
“He is not an imposing man physically, but Mayen has an extraordinary strength and dignity which expresses itself in the smooth control, sprinting bursts, constructive distribution and a deadly finality in front of the goal…”
Welcome home, Stobal!