Profiles: Heroes, Role Models and Pioneers of Trinidad and Tobago - by Nasser Khan

169 Cole. He joined Birmingham City in 2004 and then Sydney Football Club inAustralia in 2005 where he played a major role in leading Sydney FC to victory in the A-League Grand Final in front of a sell-out crowd of over 41,000. Yorke was awarded the Joe Marston Medal as best player. In August 2006 he transferred to Sunderland where he later had a man of the match performance against Arsenal in October 2008, a game which Sunderland drew 1–1 at home. His days there ended in 2009. Yorke was capped 72 official times for the Trinidad and Tobago national team. He did play many other matches for T&T but these were “friendlies” only. Yorke was a member of the 1989 Strike Squad, the national team which narrowly failed to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and of course the 2006 Soca Warriors which did qualify for the prestigious tournament in Germany. Yorke was nicknamed The Smiling Assassin because of his goal scoring abilities and his constant smile. He released his autobiography in 2009 titled, “ Born To Score ”. • 1992 Humming Bird Medal Silver • 1999 Chaconia Medal Gold • Trinidad & Tobago Footballer of the Year (2005, 2006), the Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary’s Award (2005), the Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Committee Sports Personality of the Year (1998). • The Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago, was named in his honour, and he was made a Sports Ambassador in 2006. Before and alongside Canaan-Tobago’s Dwight Yorke, there were many excellent footballers that Trinidad and Tobago produced. Among them were Alfred Charles, Ken Galt, Carlton “The General” Franco, Carlton “Squeaky” Hinds, Joey Gonzalves, Alvin Corneal, Tyrone “The Tank” de la Bastide, Bobby Sookram, Victor Gamaldo, Everard “Gally” Cummings, Warren Archibald, Leroy de Leon, Steve David, Leo “Twinkle Toes” Brewster, Kelvin Berassa, Sedley Joseph, Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips, Shaka Hislop and Russell Latapy . It was under its founder Fr. Dom Basil Matthews that St. Benedict’s College in La Romaine produced many of the nation’s top footballers in the 1960’s.