By Neto Baptiste
The Football Past Players Support Inc, which first came on the scene in 2020, is set to honour a number of former players, officials and administrators during the staging of its first Annual Awards Gala set for December.
President of the organisation and a former player himself, Fitzgerald Semper, said the gala which is set for December 7 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, will also generate some much needed funds that will, in turn, be utilized in support of former players.
“We have put this gala together to honour past players and administrators of the sport in Antigua and Barbuda so basically, that’s the primary goal of that function o the 7th and maybe they would not have gotten the kudos from the public or from the association or whoever but we see it fit that we are going to start this. It might be an annual event or bi-annual, we haven’t made up our minds as yet but the primary goal is to honour persons who would have played in the past. Of course, we double the purpose to use it as a fundraiser also,” he said.
Among the list of honourees earmarked for December 7 is former head of the referees’ association and a former referee trainer, Ivor Davis. Also set to be honoured are two former players and coaches, Mervyn “MR” Richards and Veron Edwards Sr.
Semper said a list of high-profile guest are also set to deliver speeches during the gala.
“The minister, Hon. Chet Greene, will be our featured speaker. There will be addresses from other persons including myself as the president and Mr Garry Gonsalves will do our welcome and so on. We intend to have a programme where we are going to have some entertainment all of the speeches and so on,” he said.
Cost for tickets to the gala is EC$130 or US$50. They can be bought from any member of the organisation by calling 721-5369 or 771-4414.
