Everald "Gally" Cummings (born 28 August 1948 in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

) is a former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played for six years in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. He also played professionally in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He was a mainstay of the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, Trinidad and Tobago national team in the 1960s and 1970s and later became the national team coach of Trinidad and Tobago in the 1980s during the ''Strike Squad'' years. He is listed in the Top 100 Sportsmen and Sportswomen of the Millennium (1900–1999) by the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Sports and was inducted into the T&T Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.

Early career

Cummings attended the Fatima College secondary school in Port of Spain playing for his school's football team. He helped them win their first ever Intercol championship (nationwide football competition amongst schools) in 1965. He was also a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Team in 1966 that toured Jamaica.

Professional

He began playing for local Trinidad club Paragon in the Northern Football Association Premier Division in 1964. In 1967, he joined the Atlanta Chiefs in the

with whom he was champions in 1968 until leaving the club in 1970. In 1972, he signed with the New York Cosmos (1971–1985), New York Cosmos, winning the championship with them the same year. He left the club in 1973. He moved to Deportivo Veracruz, Veracruz in Mexico in 1974 until 1976. He also played with the Boston Minutemen in 1977. He played indoor football with the Cleveland Force (1978–1988), Cleveland Force in the Major Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League in the United States in 1979.

National team

Everald Cummings was a regular with the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, Trinidad and Tobago national team from at least 17 November 1968 when it lost 4–0 to Guatemala national football team, Guatemala in World Cup qualifying until 18 December 1976 when it lost to Suriname national football team, Suriname 3–2. He was a member of the national team for the 1973 CONCACAF Championship to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup when Trinidad and Tobago had five goals controversially disallowed against Haiti national football team, Haiti and fell two points short of qualifying. He was named T&T Sportsman of the Year in 1973 and Most Valuable Player during the World Cup Qualification Preliminary Series.

Coaching career

Cummings was coach of the Trinidad and Tobago team, dubbed the ''Strike Squad'' during the qualification campaign for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. Trinidad and Tobago came within one game of qualifying for the World Cup Finals in Italy, needing only a draw to qualify in their final game played at home against the United States men's national soccer team, United States on 19 November 1989. In front of an over capacity crowd of over 30,000 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, National Stadium on ''Red Day'', Paul Caligiuri of the USA scored the only goal of the game in the 38th minute dashing T&T's qualification hopes. For the good behaviour of the crowd at the stadium despite the devastating loss and overcrowded stands, the spectators of Trinidad and Tobago were awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1989.FIFA Fair Play Awards
, FIFA.com. ''Accessed 24 June 2008''. Cummings was awarded the Chaconia Silver Medal (Second highest National Awards of Trinidad and Tobago, National Award) alongside his players for their efforts in the campaign. In recent years he has coached teams in the TT Pro League including South Starworld Strikers and North East Stars.

References

External links

SWO Introduces: The mastermind behind the famous Strike Squad.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Everald Living people 1948 births Sportspeople from Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate footballers Trinidad and Tobago international footballers Trinidad and Tobago football managers Trinidad and Tobago national football team managers TT Pro League managers National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Atlanta Chiefs players New York Cosmos players C.D. Veracruz footballers Liga MX players Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Boston Minutemen players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in the United States Association football midfielders