By Neto Baptiste
President of the Lion Hill Football Club Devon Joseph has recommended the renaming of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association’s (ABFA) technical and training facility in honour of recently deceased technical director, Rolston “Debu” Williams.
Joseph, who was a close friend of Williams, said he will be writing in his capacity as president of the former top flight champions to suggest the name change.
“I want to say this publicly. I am calling on the president of the ABFA [Everton Gonsalves] and the executive of the ABFA to rename the Paynters ground the Rolston ‘Debu’ Williams technical center in his honour. I will be writing them officially on the matter but this is one of the few times that I am lost for words. I must say that I have lost a good friend,” he said.
Williams passed away last Wednesday at the Mount St John’s Medical Centre. He was admitted to the facility just two days prior after complaining of numbness in his legs.
Joseph offered his condolences to Williams’ family and friends.
“I just want to say sympathy greetings to the family of Debu. When I got the news I couldn’t believe because it was just [the night before he died] that Debu and myself were talking for a while and he was in good spirits. I asked him how was the feeling compared to the Monday and he said to me that it was a lot better,” he said.
Williams was 55 years old. In 2015, he became the first local coach to hold the position of technical director.