Forbes reflects on football

George Forbes is affectionately known as ‘Fat Pants.’ He would be remembered as one of this nation’s more robust forward line players in the 1960s and 70s.

Fat Pants, from Paul’s Avenue, is a watchman.

His mode of communication is terse. He however carries a wealth of knowledge on football based on experience. He started playing for Somerset; a Sion Hill based squad, Eagles and later for Avenues.{{more}}

He represented the nation in 1968, 1971, and 1973. Fat Pants scored two goals, once against St. Lucia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and in Dominica against Grenada.

Fat Pants lives alone in a board house. He is not attached to any football team, but is an ardent follower of the sport.

He reflects on his era with nostalgia, common for players of that generation.

“We time was good,” he outlined.

He thinks however that “the fellas now ah days should be better.”

He is basing his assumption on the amount of money players can make.

Forbes cites that “the game (has) improved, especially with the laws of the game.”

He pointed to refereeing and added: “Long time, fellas used to kick yo(u) up and no body used to get thrown off the field.”

Fat Pants has memories of colleagues on national teams as well as with Clubs.

Being in the company of persons like Rudy Boucher, George Peters, Gideon ‘Raggady’ Horne, Winston Baptiste, Fred ‘Garrincha’ Trimingham, Douggie Doyle, Jeff Bailey, Dennis Murray, Tyrone ‘Tweety’ Spence, Cyril ‘Scorcher’ Thomas, Carl Glasgow, Douggie Cambridge, Babbs Jones and William Muckett in the 1968 squad has been an unforgettable experience for Forbes.

Jones and Cambridge died recently. The others are still making their contribution to national development.