In the Presence of Football Greatness

The story of the 1995 Cayman Islands Shell Caribbean Cup Team

July 1995 will be forever ingrained in the annals of Cayman Islands football history and will hold ever-lasting memories for members of the Cayman Islands Senior National Football Team who graced the lavish turf at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex during the 1995 Shell Caribbean Cup Finals.

It’s been 30 years, but four significant milestones were achieved during that tournament in July 1995, some that may never be replicated.

First, we hosted the final stage of a major Caribbean regional football tournament – the 1995 Shell Caribbean Cup Finals. As co-hosts with Jamaica, we were placed in Group A, which included Antigua and Barbuda, French Guiana and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines. In Group B, which was played in Jamaica, there was Cuba, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago and of course, the host country.

Following group play, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines topped Group A on goal difference with our boys finishing a very respectful second. Scores from our games included a 2-0 defeat of Antigua and Barbuda (2 goals from Lee Ramoon), a 1-0 win over French Guiana (Kim Samuels with the lone goal) and a 2-2 draw with Saint Vincent and The Grenadines (1 goal each from Carlos Welcome and Arden Rivers).

In Group B, defending champions Trinidad and Tobago emerged as champions with Cuba finishing second. Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Jamaica all finished with six points but Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba advanced to the final round courtesy of goal difference and Cuba’s 2-1 defeat of Jamaica.

In the semi-finals, yes, we suffered a 9-2 defeat at the hands of a very talented Trinidad and Tobago outfit (goals from Gary Whittaker and Lee Ramoon) and we even managed to score first, a wonderful strike from Gary Whittaker, but we never felt embarrassed about the loss. Trinidad and Tobago, with legendary professional players such as Angus Eve, Russell Latapy, Leonson Lewis, David Nakhid and Arnold

Dwarika, were defending Caribbean champions and they went on to defeat Saint Vincent and The Grenadines 5-0 in the final in front of a packed house to win a second successive Shell Caribbean Cup title.

Second, the Cayman Islands finished fourth in the tournament. We lost 3-0 to Cuba in the third-place game but fourth out of 24 teams and fourth in the Caribbean was an impressive achievement very few expected. Also, take into account that Caribbean powerhouses such as Suriname, Martinique, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Grenada and Barbados were eliminated in qualifying and Jamaica could not even advance from their group. It was a glorious achievement for us and the nation.

Third, following that tournament, the Cayman Islands were ranked 127 (out of 178) in the FIFA World Rankings, the highest ranking we have ever achieved as a footballing nation. This ranking stemmed from our historic win over Jamaica in the 1994 Shell Caribbean Cup Qualifiers, our narrow loss to Haiti (2-3) and Suriname (0-2) and a draw with Martinique (1-1) in the 1994 Shell Caribbean Cup Finals in Trinidad and Tobago and our play and results in the 1995 Shell Caribbean Cup.

Fourth, we were in the presence of greatness as Edson Arantes de Nascimento (better known as Pele ) was there in person at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex to watch the majority of the games. As a team we were introduced to Pele in the VIP Room at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex following our semi-final defeat to Trinidad and Tobago. I’m certain that his inspirational and comforting words in that room following our heavy defeat have remained with a majority of the Cayman Islands team to this day.

Pele was in the Cayman Islands as a spokesperson for tournament sponsors Umbro. He attended the tournament and shared centre stage with the FIFA hierarchy and representatives from South Korea and Japan, who were bidding to host the 2002 World Cup. It was a ‘who’s who’ of football celebrities including FIFA’s then president Joa o Havelange and his entourage of executives.

We had a very talented squad of players for that tournament, maybe the best that has ever been assembled at the national level. Experience fused with youth, talent, skill, speed and fitness was the mixture National Team Coaches Bernard Schumm, Joscelyn Morgan and the late Ed Wilson implemented and it paid off in more ways than one.

The squad included all the greats… Clay Coleman, Michael Myles, Anthony Lawson, Paul Parchment, Frederick Wilkes, Al McLean, Sylvester Coleman, Paul McField, Antonio Smith, Neil Murray, Nigel Parchment, Anthony Ramoon, George Smith, Locksley Haylock, Olsen Bush, Vincent Mitchell, Kim Samuels, Gary Whittaker, Lee Ramoon, Carlos Welcome and Arden Rivers. Manager: Kennedy Kelly; Equipment Manager: Edroy Hydes