James holds mixed views on SVG’s football

Marlon “Tusty” James has expressed disappointment with the way football is being administrated in St Vincent and the Grenadines, in spite of some emerging talents.{{more}}

James, a former national captain, spoke to SEARCHLIGHT recently, prior to his departure for Malaysia, where he is playing professionally.

“…I am really disappointed about the current way our football has been dealt with by the present Football Federation… If one shouldn’t know this all over St. Vincent and the Grenadines, football has been going downwards… It’s really in the condition of a bad state, where you can’t say for the next 10 years that we could have a national team to compete for the Caribbean Cups and try to get to the biggest stage of international football”, James said.

James noted that the state of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ football is discussed among persons overseas, who have observed the drop in the standard both on and off the field.

James, who returned home last month on a three-week vacation, noted: “Personally, if I were still a national player and I was at home here playing for St Vincent at the moment, and you wanted to play professional football overseas, there is no opening when it comes to the Football Federation.”

Continuing his evaluation of local football, James who hails from Bequia, lamented “…I’ve gone to some matches in St Vincent … the national club championship and they don’t even have a turnout of a hundred people …I have gone to the over 35 game and you have much more crowd attendance, so that tells you something about the football….”

However, it is not all gloom and doom for James.

“There are some youngsters who are coming up in Under 16 school football… There are some quite good youngsters playing, but [it] is the developmental part of the football which is really embarrassing and the administration part of the football which is really lacking…” James commented.

The former national player feels that the current generation of footballers need to take the game more seriously, as it is more than a sport; it is a livelihood.

James, 37, is a former St Vincent and the Grenadines senior football team captain.

He started representing St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1995 and announced his retirement from national representation last year.

James’ appearances for St Vincent and the Grenadines have been restricted, as for most of his career, he has been playing professionally overseas.

At present, James plies his trade in Malaysia for the Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM), which is also known as Malaysian Armed Forces.(RT)