Only days after the public was asked to support him financially, ex-national footballer Leon Carpette has died. He was 68 years.
Carpette considered one of the country's footballing icons who played an instrumental role on the famous 1973 football team which lost 2-1 to Haiti in Port-au-Prince, despite scoring five goals in a crucial CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier, passed away yesterday morning after a long battle with two strokes.
It is understood he got a stroke last year and then another earlier this year. But things turned for the worst when his condition started deteriorating.
Friends and family members made a public call this week for Carpette to receive assistance, but it never happened.
Carpette grew up in Pleasantville and made a name for himself in the sport of football, representing the successful San Fernando Technical Institute during its period of dominance in the InterCol and League competitions in the late 1960s to early 1970s, winning almost every title at stake.
Carpette also represented Paragon, Telco and San Fern0ando Strikers in the Southern Football Association Competition, and also played in the North-South Classic. However, it was when he wore the red, white and black for T&T at the qualifiers that his name became a household one.
Selby Browne, president of the Veteran Football Foundation (VFF) said Carpette was a man of excellent character. "He was a good human being and a good friend to those who knew him."
Browne, an encyclopedia of local football, described Carpette as one of the standout midfielders in the 1973 T&T team. "He was a hard tackler of the ball, an excellent passer and a good reader of the game. Carpette also used his height to telling effect, as a good header of the ball. Generally, he was an excellent player and a good man. We called him the last of the red men in the game," Browne said.
Funeral arrangements are being made.
