THE SOCCER HISTORY OF D. ZEOGAR WILSON

 I realized during my early age from puberty to adolescence that I was versatile; I found myself playing football (soccer), basketball, and ping pong (table tennis), etc. I did not see myself taking either of these sports seriously at the time, except to exercise and for the fun of it.

 My goalkeeping talent came to the spotlight between 1979 and 1980 on Sinkor Old Road when I played for Eleven Rollers in Chugbor and Disco 88 in Gaye Town respectively. My name soon became a household name on the Old Road as a young and up coming goalkeeper.

 In 1980, my parents sent me to Kakata, Margibi County to attend the St. Christopher’s Catholic High School. It was in Margibi County that my talent gained national attention under the watchful eyes of Coach Jesse Manneh, then the coach of the school. I was the goalkeeper for three years and my school played over fifteen games. I conceded one goal and was never defeated; neither did my we draw a game. I was nick named “CATHOLIC CAT” by my fans.

 Because of my performance as a goalkeeper, I was recruited by Young Eagles of Harbel in 1981 and became a first division player in the Liberia Football Association’s (LFA) National League at age 17. I played alongside players like Sam Sumo, Tony Bracewell, John Dorbor, Dash Freeman, Ashley Rennie Jr., David Kapoleh, etc. The performance of Young Eagles made the public give the team the nickname “GIANT KILLERS”. By this time my name was known nationally and my ambition to excel in the game of soccer developed rapidly. It was with Young Eagles that I knew I had the opportunity to take my game to the next level.

 In 1985, I made my first County Meet appearance as the ace goalkeeper for Margibi County. Margibi was placed in Group A, along with Grand Kru, Montserrado, and Bomi counties. This group was regarded by sports analysts as the group of death and it was also predicted that the winner of the County Meet would come from this group, a prediction that came through. My dreams and aspirations for this county meet were shattered in the 68^th minute, I remembered, when I got injured after a goal mouth scramble. I was then replaced in goal by Pewu Bestman.

 On a quiet sunny afternoon of 1985; I don’t quite remember the date or month, but the unexpected happened. A tall gentleman, neatly dressed, walked into my yard on the Smythe Road, while I was sitting in a chair enjoying some fresh air of nature, and said he wanted to talk to me. This gentleman, named Richard Suah, had come to recruit me for Mighty Barrolle. I said the unexpected happened because I had to make a decision to play for the team I despised at the time, Mighty Barrolle, and a team that I admired, at that time, Invincible Eleven without any certainty that this team will ever come to recruit me. This was the day that my soccer life changed, a day that I made a decision that as I sit back today and retrospect, I don’t regret making; the decision to join MIGHTY BARROLLE.  If I had to make that decision again, I will in a heart beat. This was the day, that I believe, I came out of denial.

 On a Saturday afternoon at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS), I was approached by Washington Blay alias Defense Minister and Coach Ben Amarfio, then coach of Mighty Barrolle to report to camp at the home of King Zito Davis in New Matadi on that evening. I reported to camp as requested and for the first time I found myself in the mist of great players like James Salinsa Debbah, Washington Blay, Solomon Joe, Mark Gibson, William Gray, John Tearwloh (deceased), and of course the man that I idolized, Boye Cooper (deceased).  This was a great moment for me, but I was subdued by the presence of Boye Cooper. This was my first game for Barrolle without practicing with the team and Barrolle was playing I.E. the next day.

 I thought my being in camp was to be the reserve goalkeeper to the great Boye Cooper, but this was not the case. I played my first game for Barrolle against I.E. on that faithful Sunday and the game ended goalless. This marked the beginning of my soccer journey with Mighty Barrolle. This was the day I realized that my feature in the game of soccer was with Barrolle and vowed NEVER to leave this team, a vow I kept up to my retirement in 1990.

 My most memorable game was in 1986 in Duala, Cameroon, when Barrolle played Union Duala in the second leg of the Club Championship Tournament. Mighty Barrolle won the first leg 2-1 in Monrovia. Union Duala, at the time, featured three players of the 1982 World Cup including midfielder Emily Mbou. This game witnessed by close to eighty thousand spectators was the best game of my soccer career. Because of my performance, I was referred to by all the Cameroonian newspapers as a first class goalkeeper and called second Nkono of Africa. At the time the Cameroonian goalkeeper, Thomas Nkono, was the best goalkeeper in Africa.

 Because of the lack of records, I cannot record the number of national and international games I played for Barrolle; neither do I record the number of trophies and championships won. I remembered that we won the National League and Knock-Out championships one year, another year we won the National League title, Knock-Out Title and the Super Cup Title and we were the first team to represent Liberia in two of these competitions. During my soccer career, I traveled to many African countries including Guinea, La Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, Gambia, Egypt, South Africa, Namibia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Chad, Malawi, Nigeria, etc.

 I was voted and honored by Mighty Barrolle in 1988 as the best defender and goalkeeper at an honoring program held on Providence Island in Monrovia.

 I was recruited to the National Soccer Team, The Lone Star, in 1986 and was a member of the history making squad that defeated Ghana Black Star in 1989 when the Late President, Samuel Kanyou Doe give each player $5,000.00 Liberia Dollars.

 I was also the ace goalkeeper of Varsity Squad of the University of Liberia from 1987-1989.