Former Reading and Hibernian midfielder Anthony Rougier has acquired full ownership of south-based TT Pro League club FC South End.
Rougier bought the full ownership for an undisclosed sum from co-owner David Farrell of Tangent Limited—an arrangement which was formalized last week.
“This will be better for the club going forward,” said the former Trinidad and Tobago international Rougier who played in both the Strike Squad and Soca Warriors era.
FC South End formed last season between business partners David Farrell and Rougier bumped into financial problems during its first season at the TT Pro League because of a lack of sponsorship.
But despite the financial woes faced by the south based club and losing key players Sylvester Teesdale, Romauld Aguilera and Marcus Joseph, South End finished the 2009 Digicel Pro League championship in eight position—which was a sign of promise by the southerners.
“My role at the club was dealing with the technical aspects and getting the players to a standard for professional play while Farrell dealt with the managerial and financial aspects of the club,” said Rougier.
“However things didn’t go smoothly. Sponsorship deals never came and without the right funding our game was affected. Players weren’t comfortable and some even left. But now that I am the helm of things and with a new management team in place, we are confident that southern Trinidad will have a viable South End,” added the former T&T captain.
With his former club United Petrotrin FC opting out of the Pro League this season, FC South End stands as the only professional club in the southern region—and according to Rougier, he plans to keep the club alive for aspiring footballers of south Trinidad.
The 38 year-old Rougier who has over fifteen years of experience as a professional player in Europe and the United States with clubs such as Raith Rovers, Port Vale, Brentford and Bristol City believes that his input from the top as President of the club will see a drastic change towards success for SouthEnd.
Rougier a former Acting Community Relations Manager at Alutrint who is committed to helping communities through sport named his new Executive Committee beginning with himself as founder and President, Moriba Baker (assistant sports coordinator at UTT) and Selvyn Lewis (founder and president of BARCAM—human and organizational development organization) as members.
“I left my permanent job at Alutrint because I believe that I can deal with community issues through sport,” said the La Brea resident. “FC South End will no longer be a football club, it is now a sporting organization, which means that we are dealing with sports and the specific needs of athletes in a more holistic manner.”
Rougier hopes to now lift the South End Sporting Organization as the premier sporting organizations of south Trinidad—with Basketball, Cricket and Athletics in the pipeline. He also hopes that the holistic direction of the Sporting Organization [and with the experienced people now involved] will definitely be great reasons for sponsorships to have faith in South End.