Axed San Juan Jabloteh prodigy Aurtis Whitley has signed on with cross country rivals W Connection on Tuesday confirmed club owner David John Williams.
For the first time since joining the San Juan based club eleven years ago, the Trinidad and Tobago World Cup midfielder Aurtis Whitley is about to don a different club uniform and with no other but his former rivals W Connection after being axed last Friday.
Williams told ‘ttproleague.com’ that he preferred not to disclose details of the contract but commented that Whitley is a great addition to his team.
“We feel that he is a great addition to our team for the rest of the season. We need players of his quality at the moment because we have lost a few players this season. We feel that he is still one of the greatest midfielders in this country and he still has a lot to offer.”
“He has great midfield skills and also a capability to score goals,” ended Williams.
Whitley was axed by Jabloteh four months before his contract expired because of being delinquent and a so called lack of passion which he admits to.
Whitley explained that he had an ongoing grouse with head coach Terry Fenwick which has prompted his lost of commitment to the club he had served for eleven years.
“He(Fenwick) always created problems with the senior players at Jabloteh and that was frustrating to play under. I was training and doing all what I had to do but when it came to matches I wouldn’t get selected and that was another frustrating matter,” explained the now W Connection midfielder.
“My passion to play for the club really went and I had to do what I did to get out.”
“They(Jabloteh) got eleven good years from me and I am really sorry it had to end the way it did. My heart was really at Jabloteh,” said Whitley emotionally.
Admitting that he would miss his former teammates, Whitley is now focused on returning to his glory days under new boss Stuart Charles Fevrier.
“All I wanted to be was comfortable. I know that now my standard will rise again because I want to make an impact with W Connection.”
Whitley had his first session under coach Stuart Charles Fevrier on Tuesday morning and explained that he enjoyed every bit of it.
“The W Connection players all welcomed me. It was really nice and I’m feeling really comfortable already,” said the now W Connection player.
Whitley has played his entire professional career in Trinidad. He enjoyed trials in England with Premiership club Portsmouth FC before the 2006 World Cup in Germany and in Vietnam in 2007.
At age 30 Whitley still has aspirations to playing abroad saying that he believes that he can create opportunities for himself to play professionally outside of Trinidad and Tobago while with W Connection.
Whitley a member of the blacklisted T&T internationals also said that he is always available to play for his country but hopes that the situation between the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation and his colleagues is resolved soon.