By Charwayne Walker
Forty-seven years ago, Blackpool Football Club, made up of mostly Guyanese who had migrated to the USA, toured Guyana for the first time in July 1975.
The team which was led by former British Guiana star, Ingram Layne, of Berbice and the Police Sports Club, played several matches against 1st Division teams from Georgetown and Linden inclusive of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
The major clash during the 1975 tour were the two fixtures against the Guyana President XI teams.
Blackpool lost both games.
The 1975 Blackpool squad: Ingram Layne (captain), Diamond Jarvis, Stanley Harmon, Lennox Harmon, Bayard Peters (Manager), Milroy Wronge, Ivan Phillips, Cecil Chester, Oswald Ramsey, Kenneth Jones, Kenneth Campbell, Wilbert Verwayne, Samuel Farrell, Monty Williams, and Robert Burkett (coach).
The 1975 GPF unit which played against Blackpool consisted of: Evarad Babb, A. Laing, Winston Birkett, Winston Profitt, Compton Boyeau, R. Lewis, L. George, M. Ifill, C. Johnson, R. Jordan, L. Mcwatt, R. Griffith, D. Smith, J. Scarville, Edmond Baker, and Lionel Gill.
Blackpool returned the following year, and on this occasion, was led by Cosmo Layne, sibling of Ingram Layne. In 1976, Blackpool was highly rated amongst the football teams in the New York region. The club placed fourth in the 1976 German-American Amateur Football League.
Brooklyn Juniors, the only other black club in the 1976 League, suffered its only loss in the league to Blackpool.
The 1976 Blackpool squad: Cosmo Layne (captain), Keith Cumberbatch, Lloyd Phillips, Compton London, Samuel Farrell, Clyde Farmer Browne, Raphael Ramsey, Cecil Chester, Leslie Wrong, Ivan Phillips, Francis Sutherland, Clairmont Burkett, Linden Carter, Diamond Jarvis, Dexter Hazelwood, and Kenneth Campbell.
Club members, Compton Burkett and Bayard Peters, will stage a special luncheon for former national players on Saturday at the Police Sports Club, Eve Leary, Georgetown.
