Former Saddlers striker, Hector Sam, is delighted that his current team, Central FC, are inviting his former club to Trinidad and Tobago for a pre season tour.
The Saddlers fly to the Caribbean next Wednesday, spending four days in Tobago and three days in Trinidad. Whilst over there, we will face three matches – against a Trinidad & Tobago XI, a League Select XI and our hosts, Central FC.
The Saddlers’ first-team squad and 8 members of the backroom staff – Manager Dean Smith, First Team Coach Richard O’Kelly, Goalkeeping Coach Neil Cutler, Head Therapist Jon Whitney, Club Doctor Ricky Shamji, Club Secretary Daniel Mole, Head Analyst Jams Troup and Kitman, Tom Bradley – are all making the trip, much to Sam’s delight.
“I have a lot of great memories of my season at Walsall and a League Two Champions medal,” said the 34 year-old former T&T international. “But it didn’t end too happily for me, so I guess I have something to prove when we play them. I enjoyed my time there and the fans were great, but it would be nice to score against them!”
Sam joined Walsall in 2006 after spending five years with Wrexham, where he teamed up with Dennis Lawrence and Carlos Edwards, and a year with Port Vale. His one season at WS1 saw him play 47 games for The Saddlers, netting 7 goals.
After leaving WS1, Sam joined Notts County before returning to Trinidad where he joined San Juan Jabloteh before linking up with Central FC in January.
“It’s funny really that I had to come all the way back home to play against Walsall,” he added. “Central FC is still a new club and they are still finding their way a little bit. But you can see already that they want to be the best club in the Caribbean.”
Central FC will face Walsall on 9th July at Ato Boldon Stadium.
“I really hope we get a decent crowd at the game,” Sam continued. “It’s the first time for a few years that an English club has come to T&T and it will be useful to see how a Pro League club matches up against an English League 1 club.”
The Sharks have brought forward the beginning of pre season training, which begins on 26th June, to prepare themselves for our visit.
“We have the core of our squad in place already,” said Head Coach/Technical Director, Terry Fenwick. “But we also have several lads on trial and a few others who we are talking to. We are looking forward to Walsall’s visit.”