By Neto Baptiste
Former national and Freeman’s Village midfielder, Troy “Bucket” Simon, believes his club team never saw its true potential and that had circumstances allowed for the core of the team to remain in place for much longer that it did, they could have been a powerhouse in top flight football.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Simon, who was known for his ability to powerfully strike the ball from any distance, said the team which included other former national players like Gason “Bubbler” Gregory and Kevin “Snary” Christian, broke apart for various reasons and never really managed to get back to full strength.
“At the time when I was playing, all of the guys were pretty young like myself — Bubbler [Gason Gregory], Snary [Kevin Christian], Turtle [Michael Samuel]; there were some real talented footballlers coming out of Freeman’s Village. We left, not really left, but we got the opportunity to go to college and we went, but I guess that at the time, everyone was just depending on that group of players to just take us to the next level. But all of us took the opportunity to do something else, so I don’t think we ever saw the full potential of that Freeman’s Village team in football,” the player, who now resides in the USA, said.
Simon, who would have won the ABFA’s Premier Division title during his stint with the Bassa FC, said that at times he feels he could have done more to assist the next generation of players from the village.
“For me, personally, I don’t think that I left something behind that the younger kids could see that this is what it takes, but sometimes in life you have to just move on. Looking back at it, sometimes I felt like I could have made a bigger difference in some of the kids’ lives if I was actually home and they see us playing and stuff like that,” he said.
Freeman’s Village are currently playing in Zone A of the football association’s Second Division.