“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..” (author unknown)

Tues. Aug. 13, 2019– There is a peculiar situation in sports, when talking about great or famous teams of the past, that we often overlook; and my brief telephone discussion today with the legendary Wilfred “Palmer” Davis, who is presently residing in Middle Rock, Arkansas, underscores that often unnoticed trivia.

Evan X Hyde’s “Sports, Sin and Subversion” highlighted some great football teams of the past, one most emphatically, whose stature and acclaim attained almost mythical proportions under the scrutiny and spotlight of the X’s inspired pen.  We’re talking about the great Dunlop, a team that became a sensation by all accounts, including the still available newspaper accounts and recollections of still surviving veterans of that bygone era.

Now, it never occurred to me; but, on second thought, it was no great surprise either, when Palmer responded, when I queried if he was a member of that legendary Dunlop team, that there was a “Spanish” Dunlop a year or two before that renowned team, the one I mentioned earlier that included the young “Mugger”, “Chico” Ellis, “Pine” Hernandez and others. According to Palmer, the first Dunlop owners/sponsors resided upstairs of a building near the fire station (or did he say, Police Station?) on North Front Street. At that time, Palmer recalled, Diamond-A was the Belize City champions (then recognized by all of Belize) in the 1957-58 season. That previous so-called “Spanish” Dunlop was apparently not noteworthy; and so, were it not for Palmer’s input, I would not have known that it had even existed.

Meanwhile, when it hit the scene, the young Dunlop was “kicking up dust” in the Junior Division, and, according to folklore, about to challenge the reigning Senior champions, Diamond-A, in a spectacular series that sparked the legend of Dunlop.

What I need to clarify from Palmer, is if he ever played with Diamond-A; and if so, did he stay with them in that series against the young Dunlop, which reportedly ended in a number of dramatic draw games. One interesting note from Palmer, is that Charles Solis, who, as well as “Puddin” Hyde, was an early goalkeeper for Dunlop, was actually the Dunlop goalie when it was the “Spanish” Dunlop. The question then is, who was Dunlop’s goalie when the new set of youngsters made the Dunlop name immortal?  The picture featured on the X’s “Sports, Sin and Subversion” shows a goalkeeper that looks like Palmer. (Definitely, it is not Charles Solis or “Puddin” Hyde.)

What is certain for the purposes of this essay, is that there was an “ordinary” team named Dunlop, which is simply the advertisement name of a rubber tire for vehicles; and then there was a team that made the name Dunlop the stuff of legends. Now, when football old folks talk about Dunlop, they are only talking about that one, the legendary Dunlop football team.

There have been other situations in Belize football where a team name has risen to such acclaim and stature, that fans forget that there were previous teams by that same name. Take the case of Charger…. but that’s a story for another time.