Christopher Bryan (born 17 November 1960) is a former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a defender for the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

national team. He was educated at

Kingston Grammar School Kingston Grammar School is an independent co-educational day school in Kingston upon Thames, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter in 1561 but can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century.

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Between 1999 and 2006, he won six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scored two goals for his country. He was the first player from the Islands to score in an international fixture. After retiring from playing international football in 2006, he became the President of the

Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association The Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association is the governing body of football in the Turks and Caicos Islands. They control the Turks and Caicos Islands national football team, the MFL League men's league, the Turks and Caicos FA Cup and the ...

. Bryan continued to play club football and in 2020, aged 59, it was recognised that he is one of only four players, in different top national leagues, older than 50 years who continue their careers and have played at least one game after turning 50.

International career

Bryan was selected to play in the

Turks and Caicos Islands national football team The Turks and Caicos Islands National Football Team is the national team of the Turks and Caicos Islands and is controlled by the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association. History Having formed a football association in 1996 and joined FIF ...

's first ever competitive international match on 24 February 1999. The game, a qualifying match for the Copa Caribe, ended in a 0–3 loss to the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

. In the team's following match two days later, Bryan became the first player from the Turks and Caicos Islands to score a goal in international football when he netted both of his side's goals in a 2–2 draw with the

US Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

in Nassau. On 18 March 2000, Bryan played in the team's 0–8 drubbing by St. Kitts and Nevis, which remains the country's biggest ever defeat. He started the match in

Basseterre Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitt ...

, but was substituted and replaced by Gregory Watts after just 54 minutes. He went on to win a total of six caps for his country. He represented his country in two World Cup qualification games. On 6 September 2006, at the age of 45, Bryan played his final match for the Turks and Caicos Islands. The team lost 2–3 to the Bahamas in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

in their final match of the

2006–07 Caribbean Nations Cup The 2007 Caribbean Cup (known as the Digicel Caribbean Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the fourteenth edition of the biennial Caribbean Cup, the finals of which were contested in Trinidad and Tobago between 12 January and 23 January 2007. The fou ...

group stage, which saw them knocked out of the competition. In 2015, Bryan was part of the Turks & Caicos Islands national beach soccer team, playing alongside his son Alex.

After football

Following his retirement from international football, Bryan was made General Secretary of the

(TCIFA). He later succeeded Thomas Smith as President of the TCIFA. Since his appointment as President, Bryan has focused on the improvement of youth football in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In September 2008, he initiated the TCIFA Youth Development Program to encourage youngsters in the country to take up the sport. During the 2007–08 period, youth participation on the islands increased by 50% compared to the previous year. Under his presidency, the country entered a team into the

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

qualifiers for the first time. He was succeeded by

Sonia Bien-Aime Sonia Bien-Aime Fulford (born 3 December 1971) is a Turks and Caicos football administrator, the president of the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA), a member of the FIFA Council, and the Executive Committee of CONCACAF. Bien- ...

in 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Christopher 1960 births Living people Turks and Caicos Islands men's footballers Turks and Caicos Islands men's international footballers KPMG United FC players Men's association football defenders