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ON ‘GREEN
BANANA’S DEATH: EX-PLAYERS MAKE PLANS IN USA
U
Liberia top coaches with the late coach Wildfred on the far right,
by coach kadala, coach Tamba,coach weeks,coach kasumu sillah, coach
Dalling ball,JR Coach Arab
By Omari Jackson
(One of the friends of Wilfred Lardner)
A day after the cold hands of death defeated ex-national coach
Wilfred Lardner, two former players have been calling on their
friends in the United States, to make financial contributions to
support those he left behind and towards preparations for the burial
of the man known as ‘Green Banana.’
The two men, defender Ansu Sirleaf (Lone Star/LPRC-Oilers) and Coach
Kasumu Sillah (Defense Invaders/Lone Star), said they are contacting
their friends to make voluntary contributions of fifty dollars or
more that Sillah will travel to Liberia and deliver to the family
“We’re planning to contribute part of the money for a ticket for
coach Sillah to represent all the players in Liberia, during the
burial and the rest will go to the wife and children,” Ansu Sirleaf
told me in a three-way telephone interview.
From Atlanta Coach Sillah said: “We believe that our presence in
Liberia to identify with the family means we recognize Green
Banana’s contribution to the sporting family.”
Coach Sillah is the vice president of former National Team Players
Association and vice president for Operations of the Liberian
Coaches Association.
For a start, the two men sent text messages to all former Lone Star
and first division players throughout the United States informing
them of the tragedy that had struck Liberian soccer, and the need to
identify with the bereaved family in Liberia.
The text message read: “Hey guys, our former national coach and
trainer TJ is dead.”—Ansu Sirleaf.
When the news reached him in North Carolina, Mr. Brucien H. M.
Myers, 11, (Inter-School Sports Association, and Wells-Hairston),
regretted Lardner’s demise, and urged the family to remain strong in
this difficult time.
“I pray for God’s comfort for the wife, children and everyone
affected by his death,” he said.
Ansu Sirleaf, speaking from Philadelphia, said the time has come for
Liberian soccer players to show their appreciation for what Green
Banana did for Liberian soccer, and they should be willing to do all
they can to honor his memory.
Coach Lardner died early Monday, (May 11) after weeks in coma at the
St. Joseph’s Hospital in Monrovia.
Lardner started his soccer career with Invincible Eleven, coached
Cedar United Football Club, a first division team in the Liberia
Football Association league, Lone Star, Black Star and Mighty
Barrolle.
He later, through the support of George Manneh Weah, took over the
national soccer team, Lone Star, having been a deputy coach under
ex-national coach Anthony Kuo and the late Walter Pelham, (Papay),
who was also known by fans as Radio Moscow, due to the high energy
in discussion issues about the Lone Star.
According to photo-journalist Mozart Dennis, the late Walter Pelham
once spoke non-stop for several hours on a trip to from Monrovia to
Mauritania, where Lone Star played in an African Nations Cup
elimination encounter.
Mozart Dennis said Coach Wilfred Lardner’s death is a tragedy.
Always avoiding controversies, Wilfred Lardner teamed up with
ex-Lone Star coach Manneh Peters, and succeeded to qualify the
national team for its maiden participation in the 1996 African
Nations Cup in South Africa.
Coach Lardner visited France, through an invitation sent him by
ex-soccer king, George Weah, where he spent several weeks with the
France Football Federation’s coaching outfit, to brush up his
coaching rough edges, and when he returned home was ready to take on
the task for the 1996 African Nations Cup in South Africa.
Serving as his deputy, Coach Manneh Peters worked alongside Green
Banana, and avoiding all controversies about player-selection,
managed to get the best players at the time.
Coach Lardner also served as the physical trainer for the Lebanese
Giants Football Club, an old-timers unit, where Lebanese businessmen
spent weekends playing among themselves to get in shape for the
challenging African business atmosphere.
On the question of how he came by the nickname: Green Banana, Ansu
Sirleaf explained it this way: “Whenever we were camping outside
Monrovia, Coach Lardner would always hide at the nearby banana bush,
monitoring players to make sure that everyone stayed at the camp.
“It was during one of such monitoring that we were alerted that
someone had been always hiding in the banana bush, and therefore
naturally we were able to identify him, and the nickname just stuck
with him.
“Coach Lardner did not complain about the nickname and therefore he
came to known as Green Banana.”
Commented Simon Mattar from Texas, USA, (IE/Lone Star), “TJ made
players, meaning he developed players and as a result contributed
significantly to Liberia. He will be missed. His death is a great
loss to Liberia.”
“We should be able to do more for our coaches and players while
alive,” Mattar said, “I hope this loss will open our eyes so that we
don’t wait till tragedy strikes.” He was making reference to the
popular Liberian saying that flowers should be giving when one is
alive, not when the grim reaper strikes.
From Minnesota, Oilers/Lone Star’s Alfonso Doyen, (Muller), said,
“TJ encouraged any player he dealt with. He loved his game and
always wanted players to do their best. He was a no-nonsense coach.”
Previous to Lone Star’s first participation in the African Nations
competition in South Africa, Wilfred Lardner would take the
local-side of the national team, and without initial training
provisions, would encourage the players to make the needed sacrifice
for Liberia. And so with the outpouring of affection and his
commitment to the game being expressed by those who knew him, it is
a clarity that Liberia has lost a great son.
This opinion was supported by Coach (Rev.) Tenesio Tarpeh (Oilers),
when I got him on the phone from his base in Cleveland, Ohio,
“Lardner was a wonderful man, an astute soccer tactician. He was a
coach who stayed away from all controversies, and who just loved the
game.”
“We came from the same background of expecting disciplined behavior
from players,” Tenesio said, “we’ll miss him. Our condolences to the
Liberia Football Association, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and
to his immediate family.”
Commented team-doctor (Lone Star) Advertus Gizzie, presently in
Philadelphia, USA, and who is affectionately known by many as
Mazola, “Lardner’s death is a blow to Liberia. I pray that the
family will have the comfort that comes from God at this time of the
day. In my relations with him, he was always open to all. His house
was also open to all players and I know it will be difficult to
replace such a good man.”
“TJ loved and encouraged all players to do their best,” Sam Fineboy
of Barrolle and Lone Star, now in Minnesota, told me in an
interview, “Lardner had good relations with all players who came to
him. We will surely miss him.”
Star player, Romeo Cooper, presently in Minnesota, said he was
shocked when the news came that Wilfred Lardner had passed on.
“TJ was a humble guy who was always willing to work with players. It
was one quality I admired and I regret this tragedy,” Cooper said.
Former LFA official, Y. Wloti Hne told me in an interview from
Philadelphia that he was shocked to hear the death of Coach Lardner,
praying that God’s comfort would sustain the immediate family at
this time.
Wilfred Lardner’s death may unite Liberian ex-soccer players in the
United States and with the advent of PRO-USA, which is being
organized to provide practical solutions to problems affecting
Liberian athletes, a new beginning for sportsmen and women will be
set in motion.
Meanwhile, John Greaves, (Cedar United), is spearheading contacts
with former players in the United States with a view of making a
contribution to the home-going of their former coach.
Meanwhile all ex-national team players as well as first division
players in the United States are asked to contact:
1. Ansu Sirleaf Tel: 763-957-2211
2. Kasumu Sillah Tel : 404-547-3634
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