Brathwaite signs pro contract in Romania

National footballer Nicoli Brathwaite will be taking his talents to Romania.

That’s because the 22-year-old Brathwaite recently signed a professional contract with Romanian Division 3 football club Progresul Ezeris.

Brathwaite, a full-back or centre midfielder, has 11 senior caps for Barbados after making his debut on August 29, 2018 against Cuba.

An ecstatic Brathwaite said he was looking forward to the opportunity to play professionally.

“It’s a great achievement for myself and the people of Barbados to have signed my first professional contract, it’s been a long journey. This shows once given the opportunity our players have what it takes but this is where the hard work begins and I’m looking forward to pushing on and achieving more,” he said.

Brathwaite will be hoping he can turn around the fortunes of Progresul Ezeris. The club currently sits in eight position out of 10 teams in Group 7 on nine points, with just two wins out of their 16 games played so far this season.

Technical director at the Barbados Football Association (BFA) Emmerson Boyce said the moved showed Barbados had footballing talent.

“We are extremely proud of Nicoli, this is fantastic news. This is yet another example which shows that once the opportunity arises, our players can reach high heights. I’m really happy for Nicoli and on the behalf of the BFA, I want to wish him all the best,” Boyce said.

Brathwaite, a former Paradise player, joined Kickstart and played in the BICO Primary Schools’ Football competition during his time at St Martin’s Mangrove. He then went on to The St Michael School where he also played in the Secondary Schools’ Football League.

During his time at Kickstart, he went through the ranks from Under-11 through to Under-17, even travelling overseas to the USA to represent his club.

While in the Under-17 division at Kickstart, he travelled to England in 2016 where he was signed to Leyton Orient for one year at the Under-16 level. He was also offered a professional contract but was unable to sign due to lack of international clearance.

Brathwaite returned to Barbados, secured his student visa and returned to England to attend school. While pursuing his education, he continued to train with Leyton’s Under-18 team and their first League 2 team for the next year.

However, when the international clearance still was not forthcoming, he went on trial to a League 1 team, Charlton Athletic, which is two leagues below Premier League, where he played with the Under-18 and Under-23 teams, but did not sign due to an internal issue.

Once again, he went on trial, but this time to Southend United FC, a League 1 Club, but faced yet another challenge and was unable to sign. (RB/PR)