Brent Sancho CM (born 13 March 1977) is a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

former professional football player and politician. In February 2015, he became the Minister of Sports for his home country,

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 ...

Club career

College

Born in Port of Spain, Sancho spent his college years playing for St. John's University in New York City, where he was part of the school's only National Championship, in 1996.

Scotland and England

Sancho then spent most of his early career playing in the United States, before joining Dundee in the 2003–04 season. A successful spell in the

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

was followed by a transfer to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side Gillingham. In December 2007 Sancho joined

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

on a month's contract. This was not renewed and he found himself once again without a club until signing for

Scottish Football League Division Two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cult ...

champions Ross County, in March 2008 until the end of the 2007–08 season. Sancho went on trial with

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in July 2008 but was not signed by the club.

United States

On 30 June 2008, the TTFF reported that Sancho had been training with

TT Pro League The TT Pro League (formerly known as the Professional Football League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad ...

team

San Juan Jabloteh San Juan Jabloteh Football Club is a football club located in San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago that plays in the country's TT Pro League. The team plays its home games in Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Trinidad. History The club was founded ...

and Wrexham in an effort to regain a place with the national team as well as further his professional career. Eventually, Sancho returned to the USA in August 2008, joining the Atlanta Silverbacks and playing in eight matches in the remaining part of the season. On 26 February 2009, the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos t ...

announced the signing of Sancho to a two-year contract.

International career

Sancho played in all three matches in which

took part in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, thus becoming the first former St. John's player and first current Gillingham player ever to play in a World Cup. In the third match, against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, he scored an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

and defeat in this game confirmed Trinidad and Tobago's elimination from the tournament. On 9 October 2006, Sancho announced his retirement from international football along with 12 others. Speaking at a press conference, Sancho said: "It's not just monetary. They have made certain contractual arrangements which they have now reneged on." This followed a dispute between the World Cup players and the

Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is the governing body of football in Trinidad and Tobago. It is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It is a member of FIFA and is responsible for governing amateur and professional football and ...

regarding bonuses for playing in the World Cup. The issue went to court in the United Kingdom which ruled in favour of the players. Several of the players subsequently returned to the national team, but Sancho did not play for T&T after the 2006 World Cup. As of February 2015, the legal dispute between the players and the national association was still ongoing.

Post-playing activities

In 2010, Sancho was the owner/coach of the Trinidad and Tobago Professional Football League club

North East Stars Athletic Club Port of Spain (previously known as North East Stars) is a Trinidad and Tobago professional football club, based in Port of Spain, Trinidad, that plays in the TT Pro League. The team plays its home games at the Hasely Crawford Stad ...

, before setting up his own team called

Central FC Central Football Club is a Trinidad and Tobago professional football club, based in California, that plays in the TT Pro League. Founded in 2012, the ''Sharks'' were the 21st team to join the Pro League and plays its home matches in Ato Boldon S ...

. In 2015, Sancho was appointed Minister of Sport in Trinidad and Tobago. As of 2021, Sancho was assistant manager of the Anguilla national team.

Awards

As a member of the Trinidad and Tobago squad that competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Sancho was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second highest

state decoration A state decoration is an object, such as a medal or the insignia of an order, that is awarded by a sovereign state to honor the recipient. The term includes: *Civil awards and decorations *Military awards and decorations See also * State order ...

of Trinidad and Tobago.

References

External links