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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He previously played for Central F.C. 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 The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). ...

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 music, Soca Warriors", represents the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Trinidad and Tobago F ...

in the

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

. 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 Confede ...

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 Yohance Marshall (born January 22, 1986) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Youth and college Born in Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, Marshall attended high school at St. Anthony's College ...

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

The club lifted the CFU Club Championship title on home soil by defeating arch rival

W Connection F.C. W. Connection Football Club is a professional football club from Trinidad and Tobago, which currently plays in the TT Pro League. The club plays its home games at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella. The club's offices are based at the Point Li ...

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 Championshi ...

. 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, SDB (; ; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco or Dom Bosco ( IPA: ), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Turin, where the population suffered many of the ill eff ...

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 Premier Football League (formerly known as the TT Pro 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 an ...

titles. He then decided to seek a new challenge at

for a brief spell before signing for Pasaquina.

International career

Leston Paul was born and grew up in

Mayaro, Trinidad Mayaro is a town in the region of Mayaro–Rio Claro on the island of Trinidad in Trinidad and Tobago. Politics Mayaro is part of the Mayaro parliamentary constituency for elections to the House of Representatives. See also * List of citie ...

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. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. The ...

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 university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

(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 is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

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 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago sportsmen 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