By Veersen Bhoolai,
February 13, 2025
vbhoolai@hotmail.com

 

With passing of Leroy de Leon earlier last month, Trinidad & Tobago lost

arguably its greatest footballer

to ever play the game.

 

A legend during a time of legends, a prodigy during an era of prodigies,

he was perhaps the greatest of

them all.

 

De Leon, 76, passed away at the San Fernando General Hospital on

January 28 after suffering two strokes.

 

Not surprisingly, praises came from far and wide regarding his skill and contribution toTT football. Ex

players such as Everald “Gally” Cummings, Lincoln “Tiger” Philips and many others recounted his ability

to befuddle the opposition.

 

Hailing from Pt. Fortin, de Leon came to the nation’s attention playing with the legendary St. Benedict’s

team of the 1960s in the then College’s Football League. Other Pt. Fortin prodigies at St. Benedict’s during

this decade were Steve David, Jan Steadman and Warren Archibald. Benedict’s won five South Zone titles

on the trot (1963-67) and the double in 1967. All of them would make their national senior debut while

still in high school

 

The Benedict’s quartet along with two talented youngsters from the North, Cummings and

Sammy Llewellyn, created the nucleus of a talent laden TT team for approximately a decade

starting from the late sixties.

 

Earl “Spider Man” Carter, considered by many to be TT’s finest ever goalkeeper, paid his tribute to “Dilly” as undoubtedly TT’s greatest player ever.

 

Carter points out TT’s dismal Concacaf Championship in Costa Rica in 1969. There have been allegations that the team had its fair share of stress regarding accommodations, food and being paid. Whatever the reason, they placed fifth in a six-nation tournament. Yet it is de Leon who was named MVP. He was offered a contract with Ajax and Derby County. “That does not happen,” says Carter. “Five of the countries voted for him. Ajax was the biggest team in the world!” The Dutch giants would go on to win four EUEFA Club Championships from 1969-1973. “There was a law in England at that time that any player coming from a colonial country had to play two years in the minor leagues before going to the topflight. De Leon refused both offers. And this is what people need to know, it was not no trial. It was a contract! A contract! It is amazing!”

 

Carter continues, “He didn’t know the impact he would have had.” He explains that de Leon’s presence in the Netherlands would have probably opened doors for other Trinbagonians. “When Santos played Washington in 1970, de Leon was on the team. It takes a special player to mesmerize Pele. And Pele approached him after the game and asked him where he had gotten all this vision and ability. He was very impressed with him.”

 

He signed with the New York Generals of the North American Professional Soccer League (NAPSL) in 1967. The NAPSL then merged with the United Soccer Association in 1968, forming the North American Soccer League (NASL). He moved over to the Washington Darts in the American Soccer Association in 1969. A year later the Darts joined the NASL winning the International Cup. De Leon was named to the 1970 NASL All Star First Team along with countryman Lincoln Phillips. The Darts moved to Miami before the 1972 season, renaming themselves the Miami Gatos. A year later they rebranded as the Miami Toros.

 

The Toros traded de Leon to the Washington Diplomats in 1974; three years later the Diplomats traded him to the San Jose Earthquakes for Sam Liveric. He played the 1979 season for the Seattle Sonders. The final four years of his career was spent playing indoor soccer with the Detroit Lightning and the Phoenix Inferno before retiring in 1983.

 

Making his national debut while still at St. Benedict’s, he would be an integral part of TT football for almost a decade and a half. It was obvious he was destined for greatness. Sadly, like many TT footballers he found his career at national level impeded by the wanting nature of a TTFA administration, which perhaps may explain only 17 appearances for the National Team during the 1960s and seventies.

 

After the debacle of the 1969 CONCACAF Championship, de Leon was waiting to be paid. Four years later still waiting he was contacted by the TTFA to represent TT at the World Cup qualifiers to be held in Haiti. “He was treated shabbily,” says Carter. “Because they said they would pay him retroactively but they never paid him. And 1973 came around and they called him to go to Haiti. He asked them, ‘What about my money?’ The said ‘You should be lucky that you have the chance to play for your country. What money you talking about?’” De Leon immediately hung up. He later told Carter, “’I know they owed me money, but I know I did the right thing. I know if I had been on that team {despite the disallowed goals vs Haiti}, we would have qualified”

 

TT scored five goals to host Haiti’s two. With four of their goals disallowed, TT was beaten 2-1 and heartbreakingly denied qualifying for their first ever World Cup. Strangely the TTFA did not protest the game, but Mexico did realizing it could affect their qualification. The decision stood, despite the referee and one linesman being banned by FIFA and Haiti was allowed to go to the 1974 WC in Germany.

 

Carter explains that Coach, Kevin Verity was trying to play a technical game which was not TT’s strength. However, with the creative individuals on the team and Cummings and Dennis Morgan to service him up front, de Leon was sure that he would have made a difference. “Gally, Dilly and Dennis Morgan, my Lord!!!” he shouts.

 

For the 1973 qualifiers, Ulric Buggy Haynes was unavailable due to an injury, along with Leroy Spann, Sammy Llewellyn and Desmond “Baby” Headley. The latter three had been banned from the national team as they were playing in the industrial league. With no compensation from the TTFA if they left the league to train with the National Team, they opted to play for their clubs. “These men had jobs and were playing for the teams. Look at Leroy, he worked for Customs and played for them. You expect to leave the team without compensation. These were their employers.”

 

One could only imagine were it not for these issues, what could have been. Not de Leon, he was sure with the TT midfield behind him, regardless of the officials, he could have won that match for TT.

 

Carter became familiar with de Leon during the build up for the 1978 WC qualifiers. Training with him in ’76, He exclaims, “De Leon is one of the best dribblers I have ever seen. He could beat you on the run. He could beat you standing up. His strength was that he would rest his foot on the ball in a standing position and you could not get it.” He adds, “I saw Latas was trying to do it, move the ankle to left, and to the right. if you try to take that ball, he (de Leon) would beat you. That was Dilly’s favourite dribble.”

 

Carter continues, “The guy was just magic, in terms of making his passes, his shooting. He was a forward before he became a midfielder. He lost some of his speed and later {opted for the midfield}.”

 

While preparing for the WC qualifiers in 1976 at the UWI Grounds, there was a training session one day with the attackers vs the defenders. “And none of the attackers could handle (Selwyn) Murren, Russell Tesheira, Winston “Bee” Phillips and Lawrence Rondon. They were bruisers.” He continues, “De Leon told (Coach Edgar) Vidale, ‘Let me try it nah.’” Vidale nodded and “Well boy! De Leon picked up that ball and started dribbling these

guys and with all the heavy kicking they could not get the ball. He destroyed them.” Coach Vidale looked at the players

and said, “’Well let us hope that Suriname does not have a Leroy de Leon.’”

 

Carter makes it clear that in terms of TT footballers, “He is the greatest. That is a fact. We judge him by his consistency,

how

often he got the ball and could shoot and score from distances. When you see that kind of consistency you realize that

the players who have come through TT football cannot match up to de Leon.

 

“He didn’t look like he could run fast. But when he got the ball he could.” Carter adds, “What sticks out for me is the way

he commanded the midfield. It comes back to every time he touched the ball, you told yourself something is going to

happen.”

 

Carter reminisces, “At UWI I could not understand how they couldn’t take that ball from him. One day I said ‘Dilly, I

coming for the ball.’ He said to come. You know, I didn’t get it. He was doing the same thing fanning his foot around the

ball and every time I moved, I was dribbled. It was amazing to see the kind of magic this guy put out on the ball.”

 

He makes it clear, “People who want to tell me Latapy is the greatest player to come out of TT, they don’t know what

they are talking about. I played with Russell Latapy. Don’t tell me! They ever saw Leroy de Leon; they ever see Jimmy

Springer!?”

 

Carter recounts speaking to former TTFA official, Vernon Bain around 2008. Regarding de Leon, Bain said “’In my opinion

de Leon is a mad man. He does not know what he is doing. The way he dribbles and passes the ball is not natural.’” Bain

mentioned that in the early eighties de Leon

was invited to a camp in California to do a demonstration for young players. Bain explained that Dilly could not do it. He

didnot know how to break down the dribble. He looked at them, “’Just send two players at me.’ And he destroyed those two

players.’”

 

Carter continues, “The man was a mad scientist. They whole camp went crazy, they couldn’t get the ball. Everybody knows

the Spanner dribble, Bert Neptune same thing {you knew}. You can’t compare him (de Leon) to nobody.”

 

The team had tremendous respect for de Leon. Carter believes it is because of this that it led to the WC qualifying demise vs Suriname in 1976. “That first goal

was a problem in TT (2-2). Dilly and Archie was telling me how many people I could get in my wall. I say I want two and they saying how much. I said ‘I am the goalkeeper. You cannot tell me, I tell you.’” However, they would simply overrule him. “Vidale would just stand up and watch.” Around 2008 while interviewing de Leon for a book that Carter is hoping to have published, “He apologized to me and admitted

that he was wrong.”

 

Regardless of their disagreement, Carter, a man who once played alongside Pele for the

New York Cosmos in the late seventies, was in complete admiration of de Leon during

the 1976 qualifiers. “Once he had possession, you used to see a class. He would not be

stripped of the ball. He would not make bad passes as regularly as the average player.

He was way above. His ability to use his vision was amazing. The problem was his fitness.”

 

Carter explains that de Leon’s fitness was affected during the 1976 qualifiers because he

had finished his American season in June and was coming to the TT team in late June.

“It is like you are in preseason training and it may have caused lactic acid to build up. He

may not have had enough time to recover and that could have been a factor.”

 

Carter laments that the public may not be fully aware of de Leon’s legacy. “I hope the

TTFA can really try to enlighten the people about how great a player he was and the

impact he had on TT football. The Tacarigua custodian bemoans that it is

“heartbreaking” that he is not as revered as the other players. Carter recounts going into

the TTFA office in 2019 while assisting with the TT women’s program. “You had on the

wall, photos of Gally, (Dwight) Yorke, Latas and Dennis Lawrence. You did not have a

de Leon. All the mesmerizing things they want to talk now why is not on the wall? Is it

because of 1969?”

 

Fortunately, de Leon was able to receive some great accolades while he was still alive. He was voted as the greatest SSFL player during its first fifty years. Considering his competition was the likes of Cummings, David, Yorke and Latapy among others, this is indicative of the effect that he had on the game. The Archibald-De Leon highway was opened in late 2023 connecting San Fernando to Point Fortin. Fittingly, it was named after the two legends from Point Fortin.

 

The family legacy has continued as his son Nick, a talented midfielder/defender played in the Major League Soccer for DC United and Toronto FC.

 

As a journalist I was very keen on interviewing former St. Benedict’s, TT and NASL legend. I tried in vain to secure an interview with him in November of last year, approximately six weeks before his stroke. He took a while to respond and simply repeated that he was Leroy de Leon. I figured we were either having a communication problem or he was not interested. Carter says that during the last few months before his stroke, Dilly was not returning his messages which was unusual. It may have been connected to his health.

 

The name de Leon means to be of the family of Leon. It is associated with strength, courage and nobility and in Spain the emblem for such a family is the lion. A fitting name for a man who left a lasting impact both on and off the field.