Gregory Messam (born 24 July 1973) is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

n football defender.

Playing career

Nicknamed 'Skippy', the solid left-back played for local teams

Arnett Gardens F.C. The Arnett Gardens Football Club is a Jamaican football club based in Kingston, which currently plays in the Jamaica National Premier League. The team is based in the Arnett Gardens community of South Saint Andrew, Jamaica, and plays in the ...

and Olympic Gardens F.C., and has played overseas for

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

, then of the USA

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

. During 1996, Messam played for the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional soccer team, based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League, and later in the A-League, between 1990 and 1997. The Foxes won two APSL titles, in 1992 and 1993. In 1 ...

in the A-League, where he played alongside fellow Jamaican internationals Walter Boyd,

Wolde Harris Wolde Selassie Harris (born 26 January 1974 in Kingston) is a Jamaican football coach and former player. He played as a striker in Major League Soccer and was the 1996 A-League MVP & Rookie of the Year. He earned twenty-eight caps with the Ja ...

Fabian Davis Fabian Davis (born 30 June 1974 in Swallowfield, East Kingston) is a Jamaican former footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. On 7 October 2008 to January 2010, he became interim player/coach of Arnett Gardens F.C., after Jerome Wait ...

, and Anthony McCreath under the direction of head coach Lorne Donaldson. In 2001, he went north of the border to sign with the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes ...

, and featured in 13 matches and recorded one goal. After his stint in Toronto he returned to Jamaica to play with

After three seasons in Jamaica he returned to the Toronto Lynx in 2004, but was released after making a single appearance. After his release he signed with the

Metro Lions Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. During his tenure with the Lions he helped secure a postseason berth by finishing second in the Eastern Conference.

International career

He made his debut as a substitute for the

Reggae Boyz The Jamaica national football team, nicknamed the "Reggae Boyz", represents Jamaica in international football. The team's first match was against Haiti in 1925. The squad is under the supervising body of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) ...

in 1995 against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and played his last international in 1998 against

Trinidad & 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 ...

, collecting over 30 caps. Messam was a regular starter at left wingback during the early rounds of Jamaica's successful World Cup qualifying effort in 1998.Mahoney, Ridge
"Reggae Boyz bring a new look"
''

Soccer America ''Soccer America'', the oldest soccer-specific media publisher in the US, was founded in 1971 by Clay Berling in Albany, California. The magazine is headquartered in Oakland, California. History and profile The magazine was founded by Clay Be ...

'', 3 October 1997. Retrieved on 5 July 2014. He unfortunately was left out of Jamaica's

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for th ...

squad in favour of Ricardo Gardner, but he was however allowed to accompany the team in France.

References

1973 births Living people Jamaican men's footballers Jamaica men's international footballers Arnett Gardens F.C. players Colorado Foxes players Harbour View F.C. players Brampton City United FC players Richmond Kickers players Toronto Lynx players Jamaican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Canada Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players A-League (1995–2004) players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Men's association football defenders National Premier League players {{Jamaica-footy-bio-stub