191: Robbie Earle, Wimbledon, Merlin’s Premier League Kick Off Sticker Collection, 1998

Today Mat Jolin-Beech brings us some further musings on recent events in Qatar while also having a look back at a quality midfield man who can class himself as both a Port Vale and Wimbledon legend. Mat raises some interesting questions over international football but, without some of the loopholes he looks at, we’d never have had Andy Townsend leading Ireland to USA ’94 or John Aldridge having a quiet word with the fourth official at the same tournament. Over to Mat with more.

The 2022 Qatar World Cup raised many, many questions. Debate raged over it with a truckload of important points - none of which I am going to cover here. (Be honest, you didn’t come here for relevant, highbrow, hard-hitting journalism now did you?) No. Here Robbie Earle and the winter World Cup come together in one perfect union. “How?” I hear you ask. Well, let me tell you dear reader.

This World Cup (or should it now be Messi’s World Cup, the GOAT, and the best human being ever to live, according to all sports media outlets?) saw a record 137 player representing countries other than those of their birth. That’s 16% of all the footballers from the 32 teams in Qatar. For context, Wales represents less than 5% of the population of the UK.

Some of the big names from this category include: Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal, Born: France); Pepe (Portugal, Born: Brazil); and even England’s own Raheem Sterling was born in Kingston, Jamaica before moving the England when he was five. Actually, I’m sure it was his family that moved when he was five and brought him with them, rather than little Raheem just packing a suitcase and heading out for London one evening.

But back to the naturalised players side of things. There was a lot of chat about Qatar’s Aspire Academy, which goes beyond football. It is a sports academy with the aim to scout and develop Qatari athletes across all forms of sport. This provided the national team with eighteen of their 26 players. When I heard this, and with my extensive Qatari football knowledge, I thought they’d have the most naturalised players, in an attempt to boost their on-pitch pedigree and competitiveness. But I was wrong. It was Morocco who had most with 14.

Now. What has all of this got to do with Robbie Earle of Wimbledon fame? Robbie Earle of Newcastle-under-Lyme, England. The same Robbie Earle who was the scorer of Jamaica's first ever World Cup finals goal in France ’98 against Croatia. Now, I’m not calling unfair play here. Earle was eligible to play for Jamaica at international level because of his Jamaican parents.

I understand and respect the grandparent clause FIFA has – I looked into getting an Italian passport when the whole Brexit shenanigans were going on because of my grandad. What does annoy me slightly are players who choose a nation when their ‘primary’ nation as it were doesn’t pick them. Earle chose, or was enticed, to join the Jamaican squad that had qualified for the 1998 World Cup. That team also contained Frank Sinclair and Earle’s Wimbledon teammate Marcus Gayle. As an aside, they were not the only two Dons to be adopted by another nation. One Vinnie Jones also didn’t represent England, the nation of his birth. Instead, he took to the Dragon and played for Wales. Not entirely successfully it might be added.

Earle’s international career lasted eight games and had that one, historic, goal. At France ’98, he played in all the group H games. These included a 5–0 defeat to Argentina, a 2-1 win over Japan, and that 3-1 defeat to Croatia, with that all important first ever Jamaican World Cup Goal from Earle. As a player there is a lot more to him. I mostly remember him in the mid 90s in the oversized Wimbledon shirt and part of a team that could do bits when they wanted but more often than not seemed to flirt with relegation. That battle was lost in 2000 when relegation from the Premier League happened, and the acrimonious journey that resulted in MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon really began. Maybe another time for that story.