Interview with Fredy Mascarenhas: A surprise return to football in Bermuda!

Former Indian international striker Fredy Mascarenhas now lives and works on the beautiful Caribbean island of Bermuda. A few weeks ago, he made a comeback on the Caribbean island after having left Goa for work a few years ago. I caught up with him to speak in detail about his career back home, his football achievements and his comeback in Bermuda.

You played for a number of Goan clubs and East Bengal. Which do you regard as your best season? What is your personal highlight?

2005/2006 season with Churchill Brothers SC, although the club were to the second Division of the then NFL as they got relegated. I was the second highest scorer in the Goa Professional League, got three Man-of-the-Match awards in the league and the club finished third in the Federation Cup held in goa. Then I got selected for the first time to play for my state Goa in the Santosh Trophy in Kerala, won the trophy beating Maharashtra in the finals and ended up being the highest scorer of the tournament. I scored a double hattrick (first ever by a Goan in Santosh Trophy) against Tripura and a hattrick against Rajasthan. Churchill Brothers got promoted back to NFL and I also got selected to represent the country, which was a dream come true.

But the biggest and memorable highlight was the first goal of my professional career with the first touch of the ball playing for Salgaocar SC against Churchill Brothers, after I came on as a substitute. This was the first match I played after coming back to the football field after a life treatening and career ending bike accident while going for a pre-season training in which I got 9 stitches just above my right eye, injuries and stitches on both my legs, with my left leg being fully plastered. By God’s grace, prayers from my family and friends and my will power, I was back on the field within three months. I didn’t play a single match the whole season due to fitness problems, but came back strongly the following season and scored in the first match.

You were once regarded as one of the brightest young strikers in India, even making it to the national team. How do you look back at it yourself now?

I’ll never forget forget those days in my entire life as I came back from the accident and had a good season with Salgaocars. I got in as one of the probables to the Indian national team coached by Stephen Constantine, but luck didn’t favour me as there were more mature and star strikers like I.M. Vijayan, Baichung Bhutia. But I don’t regret as I got a lot to learn from the coach as well as the players and that motivated me and made me feel that I can play for the country. Thereafter, I really worked very hard and it paid off.

After winning the Santosh Trophy with Goa and having a good season with Churchill Brothers, I was again called for the India camp under coach Bob Houghton and this time I made it to the national team which went on a tour to Canada. After that, I played for India and Goa for a couple more years but left football in India on a high note by winning the Santosh Trophy held in Tamil Nadu in 2009 with my state Goa, which was just two months before I left for Bermuda.

But I won’t ever forget my football career in India with great clubs like Salgaocar (my first club), Churchill Brothers, Sporting Clube de Goa and the mighty East Bengal. It’s a great and proud feeling to play for such big clubs and to represent my state Goa and my country India, which I will always cherish throughout my life!

You left India to go the Caribbean to Bermuda. Why did you leave?

A difficult question to answer but people, and especially my fans, should know about the reason for me leaving football. Till now I used to say its because of personal problems, but actually its because of a stupid coach who was trying to spoil my career. He used to treat me like a starter in football after having so many years of experience. It’s not only me, but some other senior players too. He used to prefer junior Academy players over us. There were lots of differences going on in the team, too much of politics, which I really hate. At the start of the season during pre-season training, he split the team into two groups: seniors with some academy players and juniors, and we were made to practice with the juniors. Even the senior players were very much upset with him but could not say anything. Sometimes he used to play me in a competitive match and before the match, he used to tell me in front of everyone that today is my last chance and that I needed to prove myself. This was even though I was starting for the first time that season. Even after playing a good match and scoring, he would not give me a chance in the first eighteen in the next match, but used to make me sit in the stands and watch the match. And this continued for the remainder of the season until we had our club ex-coach for the last few matches.

I was a regular in his team selection, but by that time, my mind was already messed up and I had sent all my documents for processing through my cousin (who got married to a Bermudian girl) to get the permit to work in Bermuda, which I got within a few months. Also, there was no scope or schemes for footballers in Goa after they retire from football, even if you are an international footballer. That was another reason for footballers to think about their future and retire at an early age. I have seen a lot of Goan footballers struggling for a living and some international players like Franky Baretto, Jules Alberto Dias, Francis Coelho, Bernard Pires, to name a few, who leave Goa to work abroad after retiring from football.

Although I had some personal problems as my mom expired when i was 17 while playing for Salgaocar U-19 and my dad was not keeping well with his health (who also expired just five months after I came to Bermuda), they were not the reason for me leaving football. But I am happy and feel great and proud of myself that I left Indian football on a good note winning the Santosh Trophy with Goa and achieving what I wanted to so that people in India will remember me forever!

I hope and pray to God that no player should get such injustice like what I got in the last season of my professional career. It will make them take harsh decisions which are unexpected, and hope there are no such coaches as well.

Now you are back playing football in Bermuda. How did the comeback come about?

It happened almost three years after retiring from football. It must be God’s plan for me to make a comeback to this beautiful game. I had got offers from many clubs when I came to Bermuda as an article about me was published on The Royal Gazette (No.1 newspaper in Bermuda). It was the same article which was published in India when I left football to come to the island.

One of the clubs, namely Devonshire Colts, with whom I had just two practice sessions were totally after me to sign for the club but I didn’t accept as I was very busy with my work. It only happened a few months back as I met with a nice person, Advocate Mark Pettingill, who is the also member of Parliament and his wife Erin Pettingill, who after coming to know about my earlier profession inspired me to make a comeback.

Mr. Mark took all the trouble to speak with the President of my new club Robin Hood FC, Mr. Paul Scope (who is also his friend), and Mr. Scope told him to get me for training. I went for the training with Mr. Mark, who introduced me to the coach Andrew Bascomb (Ex-Bermuda international and a big personality) and after watching me play for just 10 minutes, he told the Manager Robert (Bob) Emmett to take all my details and register me with the Bermuda FA, although it was end of the season. But that was not the end as I had to take permission from my company Bright Brigade bosses Andrew Crick and Donna Crick. Again it was Mr. Mark who spoke to my bosses and they were happy to know about it and gave me the permission to go ahead and even made changes to my work schedule. Thats how it all happened.

But the biggest motivation came through my fanpage created in India, namely the Fredy Mascarenhas Fan Club, which made me rethink about my decision. I really thank from my heart the two persons responsible for creating my fan page – Sylvia Leitao and Varun M. Kochi and all the Fans who liked the page, who also helped me to rethink of making this comeback.

What is the difference between football in India and Bermuda?

Football in Bermuda is not much different from India in all aspects of the game. As far as Bermuda is concerned, its a bit higher in world football ranking. When you compare the professional leagues, Bermuda has only 8 teams, while India has 14 teams; but there are players from England, the US, Portugal, Africa playing in the league and it’s an honour and a big achievement for me to be the first Indian to play in this big league.

The biggest acheivement for Bermuda came when they defeated Trinidad & Tobago in the World Cup qualifing this year. Bermuda has a history of having some great legends in the game of football like Clyde Best (West Ham United ), Shaun Goater (Manchester United, Manchester City), Kyle Lightbourne (Stoke City) to their credit.

I am anxiously waiting for the next season to get started!

One can only wish you all the best!

Last but not the least want to thank you, Arunava Chaudhuri, for the honour and opportunity given to me to answer an interview. It was a pleasure answering them, really appreciate it! Thanks a lot.