Members of T&T's famous 'Strike Squad' football team, which came within a point of qualification to the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, are set form a guard of honour for Oliver Camps who died on New Year's Day at the age of 87.
Camps who was the manager of the team will be buried following a funeral service on Tuesday from 10:30 am at the St Finbar Roman Catholic Church, Morne Coco Rd, Diego Martin. Clayton Morris, who led the team which played what was described by many as excellent football under Camps as manager, and Everald 'Gally' Cummings as a coach, will again be the frontman at the farewell. Other members such as defenders Brian Williams, Marvin Faustin, Floyd Lawrence and Dexter Francis are expected to be there, along with midfielders Hutson Charles, Russell Latapy, Leonson Lewis and strikers Philbert Jones, Maurice Alibey and Marlon Morris.
Yesterday, Williams hailed Camps as a good person and a good man who played an important role in the development of the sport of football over the years.
He said the one good thing about the man Oliver Camps was that he was someone who sought to address the concerns of his players. "He did a really good job with the Strike Squad. He was someone you could have approached and he would listen. He always gave you a hearing and tried to ensure that players were as comfortable as possible," Williams said.
Williams, a steady defender on the right side for Cummings' team, believes Camps' hard work to progress the sport may have been done in vain, as he just missed out on losing his home and other assets that amounted to $3.8 million in 2016. The amount was used to pay former Dutch coach Wim Risjbergen who took the then football federation to court for unpaid salaries.
Camps worked as an insurance executive for Maritime Life for many years, but was also a figurehead in local football, imparting his knowledge and experience in administration of the sport.
His career in the sport spanned for well over four decades from managing the 1974 football team which scored five times but lost to Haiti 1-2 in a World Cup qualifier. And then in 1989 when the Strike Squad was beaten 1-0 by the United States at the National Stadium, needing just a point to qualify for the Italy World Cup.