Blagrove wants football standards raised

When one thinks about the most outstanding goalkeepers to have represented Barbados, the name Phillip ‘Wham’ Blagrove surely must come to mind.

The 63-years-old Blagrove who is among a few Barbadians to have represented the West Indies team in 1981 in Mexico said he would like to see the standard of football go back to what it was during his time.

“The standard has dropped. Our standard went right down the road. I am not seeing any good goalkeepers in Barbados right now either,” Blagrove told Barbados TODAY.

“Our goalkeepers got to think sharp, commit themselves and train hard because goalkeeping is not an easy job. And you have to really dedicate yourself to goalkeeping,” he added.

The former Notre Dame and Everton number one said senior players needed to train a lot harder, keep themselves focused and be committed in order to do well. Beach training, he noted, was also very important.

“Back in the days when my coach Adrian Donovan trained us it was like the military, real training and the standard in those days was very high. The guys have to take the training seriously and keep away from certain things. Keep away from the drugs and try to keep yourself fit.

“First thing they have to do is get these guys in a camp where they can really prepare themselves, keep focused. We used to do a lot of beach training and that is what I don’t see nowadays in Barbados. We don’t really commit ourselves to the beach and we got the beach here,” he explained.

Blagrove attended Bay Primary and has had a long career. He also represented Chelsea in the mini-league competition at the Garrison Savannah while Englishman Graham Adams was the national coach.

Blagrove identified Ricardo Cracker Goddard, Eric Alleyne, and Anthony Daisy Clarke as the best players he ever played with. His most memorable time was when he made a brilliant penalty save against Jamaican Hungary-based player Paul Tegat Davis.

That was the decider as Barbados won the match 1- 0 thanks to a goal scored by former national captain and midfielder Adrian Hall during the Caribbean Football Union competition.

“My days of playing were really nice. I will always remember Jamaica in 1981 when I saved a penalty against Paul Davis a professional player at the Caribbean Football Union championship. That was an incredible day,” Blagrove recalled.

He added: “From there I went away to Mexico with the Caribbean team. I can’t complain, I had some good days. After I saved that penalty (in Jamaica) we could not leave the stadium. We had to wait on the police, the Jamaicans were vex. We had to wait for the police to escort us out,” Blagrove recalled as that was the first time Jamaica were beaten at home in five years.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb