Port Vales meste landslagsman Chris Birchall
Port Vales mest internationelle spelare är Chris Birchall med 24 landskamper för Trinidad och Tobago inklusive deltagande i VM 2006 i Tyskland där man spelade 0-0 mot Sverige bland annat. Här berättar han historien om hur han kom att spela för Trinidad och Tobago.
Some may say the only country you should be eligible to represent if talented enough is the country that you were born in. Piss Off would be my response to that comment I suppose but thats the beauty of opinion. You’ll soon see in this blog I’ve created and this being my first post that I won’t sit on the fence. I’ll always give my honest opinion and this one is close to my heart as my decision to this post paved the way to the rest of my career.
If you didn’t know I represented Trinidad & Tobago for 10 years until my retirement recently from International football. In 2005 I became the first white player to represent them in over 60 years, how I hear you ask? Your a white english as they come lad from Stoke-On-Trent. Yeah, I’ve told myself that all my life but it doesn’t change the fact I did it and the rest is history.
I always knew my mum was born in the country of Trinidad, that to me was common knowledge from a young age, hearing her tell me and my brother Simon stories of her childhood and her being the only white girl in school, a Tom boy so to speak and me painting this picture in my head of her growing up in the caribbean surrounded by stunning beaches and crystal clear waters.
My Grandparents were very much English and emigrated to Trinidad due to work commitments, a Newspaper company in fact. To cut a long story short my mum was born there during this time and grew up until her early teens where she then returned to England. She later met my Dad in Liverpool and you get it years later i arrived.
I suppose she always thought that chapter in her life had closed and she was resigned and content to share memories and stories every so often but shit was she in for a surprise.
I’d worked my way through the ranks at Port Vale from the age of 9 and found myself breaking into the first team and by the age of 20 at the start of the 2004-05 season i was playing week in week out. By my own admission I probably had the best season of my career, maybe not even so much my performances as they were inconsistent at best but when I played well. I managed to play over 35 games and score 7 goals, not prolific by any means but with me and Billy Paynter scoring nearly 20 goals between us at the age of 20 in League 1 meant that we were getting noticed.
I came away that season with Young Player Of The Year and Goal Of The Season so for me I was chuffed, what made that season so surreal was during one of the last home games of the season against Wrexham (where we got battered 4-1), a tall skinny lanky defender Dennis Lawrence came trotting over during a break in play.
‘Oh fuck what have i done to piss this bloke off ‘ is what I’m thinking ?
“BIRCHALL, I hear you got some Trini blood in you?”
How the fuck does this guy know that my mum was born in Trinidad ? I dont wanna get on the wrong side of this big black guy so like a scared little school kid i respond
“yeh yeh its me Mum”
“Right bro i need to chat to you after the game”
Well needless to say my mind was not on the rest of the game at all, i was shitting myself more thinking of what he was going to say to me.
And so the game came to an end and I quickly showered, not wanting to keep Dennis waiting and leant myself up against the wall by the Away Teams changing room. He quickly appeared from around the door and looked at me with a smile on his face, I think I was more fascinated with his one gold tooth haha.
He explained that he had been told to speak to me via the Vice President of Fifa at the time Jack Warner, whom I must say i still to this day owe a lot to regardless of the whole Fifa Scandal but thats a Story or (BLOG) for another time. Trinidad & Tobago were languishing bottom of the group of 6 for qualification for Germany 2006 with 1 point from 3 games. They had found out through my agent that my mother had Trini heritage and they wanted to know if i would come over for a training camp in the next 4 weeks once the season had finished, to maybe try and convince me to represent them and pledge my allegiance.
This was one of them cases were i went home and literally thought to myself, What will my team mates say? What will the public think of me? I’ve never even been to Trinidad or Tobago, I don’t know anything or anyone about the country apart from stories from my mum and here i am being asked to consider representing them.
Lets not beat around the bush here, Yes i thought to myself I’m white!!! Am i going to be accepted? Are the public and team going to think who the fuck is this white guy from England coming over here and playing for us ?? All these negative thoughts were rushing through my head along with the over riding fear of what are my mum and dad would say ? I had an idea already, my mum would be excited and proud and my dad be sceptical and wary and maybe understandably so as he’s as English as me. Through the next couple of weeks all these slight negative thoughts and worries were over shadowed by this excitement and a desire to just get there and think “fuck it!!”
This is what i want, i don’t care who thinks what and who says what, I’m going!!! And thats exactly what i did, i flew to Trinidad and was nervous as hell but there was no turning back and i had this buzz and confidence about me that i was gonna work my balls off and play to the best of my ability and see where it took me.
Within 4 weeks it took me to a starting position in a World Cup Qualifier at home against Panama. At Home!!! that sounds strange to write that as it wasn’t my home as id only just arrived in the country but WOW did the public take to me, they were cheering my name, they were stopping me on the streets, nothing but good luck wishes.
How is this even possible? they hadn’t seen me play bar a couple of friendly matches but the media had made a massive deal about ‘THE WHITE BOY’ joining the team, this along side us hiring ex Real Madrid and Holland coach Leo Beenhakker. We were both new to the team and this man is the single reason we qualified for the World Cup, any member of that squad will tell you the same.
I lined up for the national anthems and absolutely it ran through my mind is this really happening?? I’m English yet I’m singing the Trinidad & Tobago national anthem, which id spent 2 weeks learning off by heart i might add haha, and I’m stood here with my mums country fully behind me wearing the number 7 jersey, from that day there i said to myself no one is taking this number 7 off me, its mine and ill earn the right to keep it.
We won the game 2-0 and leaped above Panama in the group. 6 games to go and 3 qualify for Germany outright with the 4th playing a playoff game with an Asian team, It was all to play for.
Not many people know that the next 12 months would be the most exciting but also the most upsetting and depressing time maybe of my whole career. On one hand I’m so honoured to be playing and starting every game for T&T and starring in my new role of centre midfield but on the other hand the abuse and lack of respect i was receiving at home in England was hard to swallow.
I was missing games with Port Vale as in League 1 there was no international break, games were still going on so the negativity from the fans was beginning to grow every time i went off for qualifiers, that i could understand to a certain extent as fans will look out for the well being of the club but what i couldn’t except was the fall out i had with a couple of players at the time, older senior players who know who they are, who virtually bullied me and verbally abused me for playing international football for a country i wasn’t born in.
I was 21 at the time and these players were the core of the team. “What the fuck are you doing playing for them!!, you’ll never qualify so whats the point!!, your going off on your jollies again are you to the caribbean!! ”
My response was always FUCK OFF, i lost respect for both of them right there and then, they’ve apologised since but thats not the point, they wouldn’t be saying that if id have been called up to England and missing games, id get the merry send off then and the good luck wishes to go with it.
The next 6 games for T&T flew by and we found ourselves finishing 4th in the group battling it out with Bahrain in a two legged playoff.
Packed to the rafters 3 hours before kickoff was the rumour from the team hotel in Port of Spain, the country was in lock down, every one who wasn’t lucky enough to get a ticket had eyes glued to the TV.
Ive never known anything like it, a police escort took us to the stadium, a mile it is from the stadium, that whole mile looking out of the window on the bus was just streets lined up with RED WHITE AND BLACK flags, screaming and cheering us, we were two games away from making history and becoming the first T&T national team to ever make it to a World Cup.
35,000 in that stadium and the atmosphere was a joke, couldn’t hear myself think and that support was all for us, i could hear the two pricks comments from back home in my head.
‘This is why I’m doing this!!, Im gonna fucking show them!!’
The game was a tight, scrappy affair, both teams cautious and not wanting to concede but we did, mid way through the 2nd half they scored to make it 0-1 and grab a vital away goal, i remember thinking Oh Shit!!!!
For the next 5-10 mins i was shell shocked, they were crap and we were losing to them due to us not playing our usual game. They say how literally a second can change a game and how the pendulum can swing. My whole life was about to change in the blink of an eye.
I remember Silvio Spann trying to cross a ball in the box but it hitting the defender flush in the face and the ball deflecting into my path with me running towards it in tune with the bounce. I must have been 25-30 yards out and smashed this shot on the half volley like a rocket, it was out of anger of us playing so shit and just conceding. It flew straight into the top corner .
Holy shit the place erupted, 35,000 people shot up off the seats and the sound was deafening, i couldn’t believe what id just done, i ran off in ecstasy to the stand in which my mum and dad were in, it still gives me goosebumps now as I’m writing this. I try to stay as modest as i can and I’ve been brought up that way but its nice to hear even now when people mention that as one of the most important goals in the history of T&T football, i feel honoured.
We went on to draw the game 1-1 with the 2nd leg 3-4 days later in Bahrain. This was it, we had to score or else we were out. Once again a terrible game with both teams giving it away. I went off injured after 20 mins and could do nothing but watch and hope for the best. Well the best came mid way through the 2nd half, Dwight floated in a corner and up rose Dennis to power the header down into the bottom corner. Jesus christ we were about 20 mins away from qualifying for the World Cup !
We got bombarded with pressure and time went so slow but it was getting closer, we had a section of about 100-200 fans in the corner of the stadium and they were going nuts with excitement, I’ve never really prayed in my life but fuck me i was praying then, just let us get to the World Cup.
The final whistle blew and we just ran, i don’t know where to and we didn’t care, i think some of us ran around in circles but the fact of the matter was that we made it. In 6 months time i was going to Germany. Earlier when i said them 12 months were split into the most exciting and most depressing, well the next 6 months in the lead up to the World Cup were. Ok id finally got some respect back at Port Vale and made some bastards eat their words and funny how people are quick to jump on the band wagon and support you and say
‘Oh Yeh well we all said it was the best decision you ever made.’ It used to wind me up a treat!! seeing these people come out of the wood work and pretend they were my best mate and were fully behind me and then see memorabilia being sold in the club shop etc. Like i said the success didn’t come without its draw backs. In games for Vale i was being tarnished with the brush that he doesn’t want to get injured and he’s jumping out of tackles its a lack of respect for the team. What a load of bollocks!!!
Any player will tell you when your on the pitch in the heat of a game, the last thing your thinking about is anything else, especially shirking tackles, the one thing your taught in Football is that when you go in for tackles half hearted then your more likely to get injured. Of course i didn’t want to get injured but i was just trying to play my normal game. The lead up to the World Cup also brought the Media.
We had been drawn in the same group as England so this made my story that bit more interesting. What really pissed me off though was the fact that i had been playing for T&T for over 6 months with probably 10 caps and yet i was still answering the questions, such as; ‘How do you qualify to play for T&T? How do you feel playing against England your country of birth? How is it being the only white player in the team?
Playing against England stirred up a lively debate online in forums across the country, is it right? should he be allowed to play against England? someone wrote, how far back in the family tree should athletes be eligible to play for a nationality?
I couldn’t care less to be honest, i was asked to represent my mums country of birth and the only peoples support i need are fans of T&T which i have, my parents which i have and my T&T team mates which i have, everyone else is fully entitled to their opinion but that will never change what me and the country have achieved together.
I must have answered one particular question 100 times previously in Trinidad, The whole ‘Only White Player’ question, i thought that stigma had subsided but it was to get opened up again as if it was fresh news. It frustrated me at times because i thought to myself theres no way the media would get away with asking an England player
What is it like being the only Black player??? Who gives a shit, I’m a person the same as anyone else, i have a job to do on the pitch and I’m selected to do that and i love my team mates and they love me and the same with the T&T fans so why are you focusing on the colour of someones skin to sell stories.It thankfully passed and the World Cup arrived, a gruelling 2 month training camp in Germany got us ready.
A monumental effort saw our 10 men earn a point against Sweden. We conceded 2goals in the last 10 minutes against England and lost our final game 2-0 against Paraguay.
It was over like that and its only now looking back that i truly appreciate what a huge moment in my career and life it was. It also makes me look back to them two weeks from when Dennis came up to me and questioned my T&T heritage, and realise that decision at such a young age structured my whole career.
Moves to Coventry City, Brighton, LA Galaxy, and Columbus Crew all followed and i have no doubt what so ever that they all came due to me playing international football for Trinidad and Tobago and playing in a World Cup and becoming a more recognised player.
Whether people think its right or wrong to represent a nation that your weren’t born in because of parental heritage or grandparents heritage or even due to residing in a country for a substantial period to acquire a passport, this will always spark debate and opinions but until the rules change then many more cases will arise.
It will never change the fact that i played for T&T 47 times scoring 4 goals over 10 years and representing them in the biggest competition in World Football and i had a an absolute ball along the way!!!
CV
