Grenada

Home 2015-18 – Admiral

 

 

  Related image

The Country

Widely referred to as the Caribbean’s “Spice Isle” thanks to its impressive output of nutmeg, mace and cinnamon, Grenada is often said to exude a nationwide aroma of enticing zest, almost as if the whole island were a huge open air branch of the Body Shop, only without all the grubby toddlers trying to eat the bath bombs. The country probably also wins the prize for ‘most random place ever invaded by the United States’, this following a 1983 military coup that threatened to plunge the island into chaos, or at least as chaotic a state as possible for somewhere with more goats on its roads than vehicles. In response, US President Ronald Reagan authorised “Operation Urgent Fury” to restore order, although as it turns out the CIA had Grenada in their sights prior to these events due to their ex leader Maurice Bishop’s Marxist ideology, as well as his championing of human, and particularly women’s rights, his compassion for the poor and his anti-racist, anti-apartheid policies. The bastard.

Since those inauspicious early days of sovereignty – Grenada only won independence from the UK in 1974 – things have mercifully calmed down a tad. Today foreign interlopers arrive instead on Caribbean cruise ships and consist of sun seekers, spice connoisseurs (insert ‘seasoned traveller’ joke here) and geriatric nature lovers, whose fondest wish is invariably to swim with the island’s endangered turtles. Quite what’s so appealing about such slow, doddery, leather-skinned creatures, who struggle to get up whenever they’re tipped over, is anybody’s guess. Still, the turtles seem to like them.

As relaxing a destination as Grenada may be, recent history suggests Mother Nature has something violent and drastic perennially waiting in the wings. Most notably, Hurricane Ivan gave the island an epic battering in 2004, which amounted to $1.1 billion worth of damage including the sweeping away of the local prison and subsequent freedom of its inmates, with “freedom” in this instance characterised by sudden, unscheduled aviation and a plush new hideout atop the nearest palm tree. In addition, Grenadians must also contend with an active undersea volcano in the shape of the splendidly named “Kick ’em Jenny”, a dangerously restless submerged peak capable of transforming the surrounding sea into a giant hot tub, albeit one almost as uncomfortable as having to share your hotel spa Jacuzzi with those weird French guests who seem to regard bathing suits as strictly optional. Almost.

The National Team 

Predictably nicknamed the “Spice Boys”, it’s fair to say Grenada’s footballers don’t share the same success bracket as “Posh”, “Scary”, “Ginger”, “Baby” and “Other One”, having failed to make any meaningful impact in World Cup qualification, or indeed to fart out the sort of inexplicably popular radio fodder that makes you want to treat your ears to a new power drill. In fairness, for a tiny island of just 107,000 people, Grenada’s on-field record is reasonably commendable. Between 2009-2011 the national side even managed to secure successive qualifications for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, becoming the smallest nation ever to make the finals in the process, and while they ultimately lost all six matches across the two tournaments and scored just once during a 7-1 twatting by Honduras, their colourful vibe and boundless enthusiasm probably won them more fans than their meagre talents would otherwise have delivered. Hmmm, perhaps they’ve more in common with the Spice Girls than I’d initially supposed.

By far the most famous player ever to pull on a Grenada shirt would have to be the ex Wigan and Blackburn striker turned BBC pundit Jason Roberts (born in London to a Grenadian father), who hit eight goals in just twelve caps over an international career sadly cut short by availability disputes with his club sides. Instead, the Spice Boys’ all time leading scorer is a chap by the name of Ricky Charles, even if Wikipeida are somewhat vague as to his final tally, listing it as “at least 37”, which on a scale of helpfulness is only marginally more useful than just writing “Oh, gosh, loads.”

Finally, I can’t finish without mentioning the absolute farce of a Caribbean Cup game between Grenada and Barbados from 1994. I already covered this in my Barbados post, so have yourself a read of that (start from the fifth writing block down for this specific part) or watch the below video, or preferably both as the Youtube clip doesn’t do justice to how utterly ludicrous that match became.

Barbados

 

The Shirt

No, this isn’t a fake, although any fellow collectors reading this could be forgiven for harbouring suspicions. For those not in the know, I’ll explain. There exists out there in the lawless untamed wilds of eBay, a fair few purveyors of dodgy as fuck national team shirts, typically of desirably rare and obscure countries, with this particular Grenada design being a frequent favourite of these unscrupulous gobshites. In fact I hold my hands up to having knowingly bought one such knockoff a couple of years back, thinking at the time that I’d missed the boat for an authentic Grenadian top, after failing to react with sufficient swiftness when a trusted importer sourced a limited number directly from the island itself. As luck would have it, the ever reliable classicfootballshirts.co.uk recently acquired a shed load of Admiral kits from small Caribbean nations, including both home and away Spice Boys shirts. Link below for anybody interested.

https://www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk/nsearch/?q=grenada

Any concerns about the CFS shirts not being the real deal were quickly put to bed upon delivery. Being able to compare directly with my (now dispensed with) forgery served to highlight a marked difference in the quality of the material, while the badge – though screen-printed on both – is considerably brighter and fresher looking on the proper version. As for the actual design, it’s hardly one to set the pulse racing. What a shame the GFA didn’t stick to making the team’s kit themselves, as was the case with these beauties from the 2011 Gold Cup which featured their Spice Boys moniker in lieu of a manufacturer’s logo. 

Image result for grenada 2011 gold cup images       Jun 13, 2011; Harrison, NJ, USA;  Grenada forward Junior Williams  (23) brings the ball up field during the first half against Guatemala of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup at at Red Bulls Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim O'Connor-


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.