Leston Peter Paul (born 11 March 1990) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a

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 ...

for Memphis 901 in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. He previously played for

Central F.C. Central Football Club is a Trinidad and Tobago professional Association football, football club, based in California, Trinidad and Tobago, California, that plays in the TT Pro League. Founded in 2012, the ''Sharks'' were the 21st team to join the ...

in the Trinidad and Tobago (TT) Pro League, where he led the "Sharks" to a hat trick of TT Pro League titles (2014–15, 2015–16 and 2016–17) and back to back CFU Club Championship triumphs in the 2014–15 and 2015-16 seasons. With 13 full international caps to his name, Paul has lined up for the

Trinidad and Tobago national football team The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed the " Soca Warriors", represents the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in international football. It is controlled by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, which is a m ...

in the

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...

. He was also the captain of the Trinidad and Tobago National U-17 and U-20 teams that featured in the

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was held in South Korea between 18 August and 9 September 2007. For this event, the number of teams had been expanded from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four ...

and

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confedera ...

Career

Paul signed for Central F.C. in January 2014 amidst of flurry of other high profiled Trinidad and Tobago National team players such as Willis Plaza, Ataulla Guerra and Yohance Marshall. He quickly established himself as an integral cog in Central's midfield alongside veteran and TT Pro League legend Marvin Oliver. In his first full season with the "Sharks" he helped the team secure an unprecedented 9 trophies (5 major trophies and 4 minor trophies) including the club's first TT Pro League and CFU Club Championship titles. Paul also scored the solitary goal in the 2014 First Citizens Cup Final versus North East Stars F.C. The club lifted the CFU Club Championship title on home soil by defeating arch rival W Connection F.C. 2-1 at the

Ato Boldon Stadium The Ato Boldon Stadium is an athletics and football stadium located in Balmain, Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. It is currently the home ground of Central and Club Sando. History The stadium was constructed for the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship ...

. Paul's excellent performances and natural leadership qualities shone through during the season and he was eventually named club captain towards the end of the 2014-15 season. In the following season, Paul once again led the club in retaining the two most prestigious titles: TT Pro League and CFU Club Championship. This proved especially difficult as Paul and his teammates faced off against a hostile

Don Bosco John Melchior Bosco ( it, Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco; pms, Gioann Melchior Bòsch; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco , was an Italian Catholic priest, educator, writer and saint of the 19th century. While working ...

of Haiti which was playing at home in the CFU Club Championship semi-final. The score was locked at 1-1 at the end of added extra time in heavy rain but Central F.C. pulled off a 2-4 penalty shootout victory with Paul scoring the winning penalty. This win secured a repeat of the 2015 final versus W Connection which the "Sharks" ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. Paul was also named the 2016 CFU Club Championship MVP. In a tumultuous 2016-17, Paul was yet again a mainstay at the heart of the "Sharks" midfield as they made history but claiming a hat trick of

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 ...

titles. He then decided to seek a new challenge at North East Stars F.C. for a brief spell before signing for Pasaquina.

International career

Leston Paul was born and grew up in

Mayaro, Trinidad {{Infobox settlement , official_name = Mayaro , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:Mayaro Beach; Trinidad & Tobago.jpg , image_caption = Mayaro Bay, looking south , named_for = Maya Plant , pushpin_map = Trinidad and Tobago, pushp ...

but attended and represented St. Mary's College (Port of Spain) with distinction. He captained St. Mary's College to the North Zone Intercol title in 2007. In that same year, he led the Trinidad and Tobago National U17 team to the 2007 FIFA U17 World Cup in Korea and played in all 3 matches in a group featuring Germany, Ghana and Colombia. In 2008, he was selected by none other than John Barnes as one of eight Caribbean players to earn a 1-week training stint at Sunderland's

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

as part of Digicel's Kick Start Clinic. In 2009, the combative midfielder led the Trinidad and Tobago U20 team to the 2009 FIFA U20 World Cup in Egypt where the team was eventually eliminated from Group A featuring the likes of Paraguay, Italy and hosts Egypt. Paul's performances earned him a 4-year scholarship at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

(USF) where he excelled and was selected on the Rookie Team of the Year in 2010 and the Big East Third Teams of the Year from 2010 to 2012. Upon graduating from USF in 2012, he returned home to Trinidad and represented hometown club Guaya United F.C. (National Super League) briefly before permanently moving to Central F.C. Paul was awarded his first Trinidad and Tobago Senior International cap by then head coach Stephen Hart in the 2014 Caribbean Cup qualification stage against the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

in October 2014. He helped the team to a commanding 6-1 victory and then made appearances throughout the qualification stage. With Paul at the heart of the midfield, T&T overcame Curaçao and Cuba before being runners-up to Jamaica in the final. He then went on to make further appearances under coach Hart in friendly internationals against Jordan, Peru and Uruguay. He performed well in the contest against Uruguay in May 2016 where the South American giants won 3-1 with Edinson Cavani scoring a brace. His last Senior International Cap came in a 2-0 loss to USA on 8 June 2017 in

fifth round (also known as the Hex) in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Leston 1990 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago men's footballers Central F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Trinidad and Tobago men's international footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate men's footballers Memphis 901 FC players USL Championship players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Trinidad and Tobago men's under-20 international footballers Trinidad and Tobago men's youth international footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States TT Pro League players Guaya United F.C. players