T&T Senior Men’s football team head coach Dwight Yorke appreciates the government’s quick action on the Constitution Amendment Bill (2025), also known as the Grandparent Law, but stresses he must keep preparations moving while the official proclamation is pending. The bill, which allows citizenship by descent if an individual’s grandparent was a citizen at their birth, passed the Lower House 27-10 on September 12 and the Senate 16-13 with one abstention on September 17.
However, with T&T preparing to face two crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures away to Bermuda (October 10) and Curacao (October 14), Yorke says his alternative plans have been forging ahead.
In a video posted to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s YouTube account, Yorke said, “Listen, I think that the government has done a fantastic job in trying to move that law forward very quickly for us. And although we know that in Parliament, it has been passed, we’re actually waiting for the President to sign off on the final approval. However, as far as I know, and (based on) the conversation I had with our president, that piece of paper hasn’t been signed yet. So we are waiting for the official signing.”
However, Yorke was also frank in his assessment that even if the law is eventually proclaimed in time to grant him any immediate benefits from its implementation, there are several other considerations that may hamper the recruitment of T&T players abroad with third-generation lineage.
“We are always looking to try and build and try to add to the squad to better these players, to better the team. But it’s not, as you know, a foregone conclusion like some people are thinking, because you have to initiate the conversation with the players; you need to have the players wanting to come and play for Trinidad and Tobago. You’ve got to understand that these players have the options to play for the various countries also,” he said.
“So that might be a stumbling block. It’s up to me as the head coach to try and influence these players on the reason why they should be playing for Trinidad and Tobago rather than probably the country of their birth.”
“You have to go through the logistics behind it and the reason behind it, and obviously, the players buying into wanting to be part of what we want to continue to try to build.”
Yorke, a member of T&T’s 2006 World Cup Squad, which boasted no fewer than three players who were born outside of T&T, albeit to direct T&T parentage (Shaka Hislop, Ian Cox, and Chris Birchall), explained that he has already scouted at least two players who may be draughted into his plans more promptly than others.
“When that form is signed by the President, as soon as that is signed and we initiate, I’ve already been in contact with these players and am hoping that by the time that these games come around, the grandparents law will be signed into effect. Once that is done, then, yes, there will always likely be players that we’re trying to add.”
<Twelve points up for grabs>
Yorke and his senior T&T footballers have not had the best start to the final round in what many believe has been T&T’s best chance of reaching a men’s FIFA World Cup final since Germany 2006. Hosting Curaçao at home at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on September 5, T&T drew 0-0. Four days later, Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz shut out the red, white, and black 2-0 at the National Stadium in Kingston. It has left Yorke and company in desperate need of a win to keep wind in the T&T sails; however, looking further down the road, the head coach says all four remaining games, which include two home games against Jamaica and Bermuda on November 13 and 18, respectively, are must-win encounters.
Yorke said, “There are no excuses from our end. We need to produce a result against Bermuda and really take that momentum into Curacao within the next couple of weeks.”
He added, “I think we felt, and the data suggests that we probably deserve a lot more from the two games that we’ve played. But that is behind us; we have four games ahead of us and 12 points to play for.”
That stretch of matches begins with T&T’s visit to Bermuda and Curacao for back-to-back away assignments next week.
“We have to really solely focus on Bermuda and certainly Curaçao in the coming weeks. (In) the final week before the team gathers, there are a lot of players playing games, so hopefully, and fingers crossed, there are no injuries to come in the next 48 hours or so. This will be more of a tense time for me as a coach to make sure that these players are fully fit and raring for the challenge ahead.”
<Sailing a tight ship>
As the next international window approaches, Yorke says his focus has already narrowed on the players he would like to deploy against Bermuda and Curacao. The former Manchester United striker and EPL top scorer says he has been in regular contact with those players.
“Originally, we have a 35-man squad that we tend to look at for travel purposes, the preparation, the camp, the organisation, all of these things. We monitor, and then from the 35-man squad that we have in mind, we get to a number of about 26. I always like to travel with 26 because of (possible) injuries, so we have players already in the pool and don’t have to go searching. These players are aware of their selection or call-up, and so they’re mentally and physically prepared if they were to be called up in a 20-man squad,” Yorke explained.
Yorke added that his team will not gather in Trinidad for a pre-competition camp, for easier travel during this window.
“When the players do arrive on Sunday and Monday, everything is in place, and we really could just focus on the task at hand. We feel like the camp and gathering in Miami will be appropriate. It’s similar to what we did when we played Cuba. We got there and did the main prepping of the team and organisation, and the attention to the details there. We pretty much picked the squad there as well, so when we fly into Bermuda on Wednesday night, late afternoon, we only have minus one (day), which is Thursday, and we have one hour in their stadium to just have a feel of the stadium, and the game is on Friday. That’s how quickly it is.”
