Football loses corporate partner

Irvine Carr, a businessman whose generosity contributed to the development of football here, will be laid to rest today, at the Kingstown Cemetery.{{more}}

This follows his funeral service, which begins at 3 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption, Kingstown.

Carr, 61, died last Tuesday, April 5, following a battle with a terminal illness.

For many years, a period dating 1981 to 2003, his business, J G Agencies, now called JG and Sons, sponsored the Inter Secondary Schools Football Competition.

His contribution to schools’ football was acknowledged by the Schools Games Committee, who named the Under-21 championships after him. The symbol of supremacy, the Irvine Carr Shield, as it is named, was won for the first time by the Dr. J P Eustace Memorial Secondary School at the 2010 final, which took place on Sunday, January 23, this year.

Apart from contributing to schools football, Carr’s JG Agencies/ JG and Sons has been sponsors of the Stingers Football Club for many years.

The Stingers outfit of the 1980s turned out several national players, notably Rodney ‘Chang’ Jack, who went on to play professionally in England.

Former national player Anthony Sam, one who led Stingers in the 1990s, said he had been close to Carr for 25 years and remembers him as a “father to me and a father figure to the team.”

Sam told SEARCHLIGHT that everyone in the team called Carr “The Boss.”

“He was free-handed, he was more than a philanthropist to us; his pocket was never too deep for his hand to reach,” said Sam, a former national midfielder.

“He was a generous giver, he made a lot of contributions behind the scenes and at times never wanted the recognition,” Sam added.

Sam said that Carr’s association with Stingers evolved from his sponsorship of Shingle City in the Sharpes Nine-A-Side League, back in the 1980s, when he gave them some jerseys from a Monday Carnival band.

Sam recalled the Stingers team receiving uniforms through his contacts in Trinidad and Tobago, which aroused envy in other teams.

Sam disclosed that after the sponsorship with Stingers became entrenched, Carr would religiously visit the Victoria Park on Sunday mornings to engage in dialogue with the players. The discussions, said Sam, were on various topics.

He also mentioned the many festive times when Carr treated the team, on Christmas Day, as well as New Year’s Day, following the completion of the football season.

“We have lost a good man,” Sam said.