BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 16, 2025

   The above picture is of the 1989 Coke Milpros football team, taken outside the military hotel at which they stayed in Panama (during General Manuel Antonio Noriega’s military rule) for the Concacaf match vs Plaza Amador. Missing from the team picture are Bernard “Dubu” Thomas and Jervis “Rookie” Lambey, who were both late returning from their effort to contact some relatives in Panama. 

   Veterans of the football community are currently mourning the passing of a stalwart personality on the Belize football scene of the 1980s: Roy Williams, known to friends and teammates as “Roy C”, who was the assistant manager of the Coke Milpros team pictured above.  Roy C is standing with his sunshades on, at the far left in the back row. He passed away on September 29 in the U.S. Love and respect always, Rice! 

   His funeral will be held on Monday, October 20, at the Ebenezer Church on Barrack Road in Belize City.

   Our sincere condolences from Kremandala and the football family to his relatives and friends.  Rest In Peace, Brother Roy Anthony “Roy C” Williams!

REMEMBERING ROOKIE

   We also take this opportunity to remember a notable football teammate who passed in May of this year in Punta Gorda, and the news was very late in reaching us.   

Jervis Glenford Lambey

(March 28, 1964 – May 9, 2025)

   It is the tradition in football for the association to announce a Best Young Footballer, or what we traditionally referred to as the Rookie of the Year. We are not sure of the year in which Jervis Lambey won that honor sometime in the 1970s or early 1980s, but the title stuck fast upon him, so that throughout his stellar football career he was known to fans as Rookie Lambey. A BDF soldier in his younger days, Rookie also performed with a number of top teams, including a stint with Coke Milpros, where he scored one of the goals in a spectacular 3-0 victory over Diriangen General of Nicaragua at the MCC in Concacaf play in 1989. Interestingly, in securing his passport for travel, management discovered that his registered name was Glenford Blanco. But for us in Belize, he remained Jervis “Rookie” Lambey, a real team player, always smiling, who brought his joy to the game of football.

   Our sincere condolences to his friends and relatives in Punta Gorda and fans all over. Rest In Peace, Brother Jervis “Rookie” Lambey, aka Glenford Blanco!