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At the beginnings of a new path…part three (Tristan Plummer)

: THE FORGOTTEN FOOTBALL STARS OF TOMORROW                   – ending two –

The series of ‘forgotten football stars of tomorrow’ ends with an alternative ending, an ending that has a story about a player who’s story is still unwritten. Tristan Plummer is a 21 year old who has played over 44 times for England’s youth teams and has quite a story to tell. One that inspires me to reach for the stars and have self belief to achieve all that I can in my life.

I hope that through the stories of Cherno Samba, Ben Collet, Sonny Pike and Nathan Craig much can be learnt. The concluding article completes the lessons that every young person should take before setting off on a career path that takes them somewhere….

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

Harriet Tubman

TRISTAN PLUMMER

Tristan Plummer is someone who would often practice for hours after his friends went home, against a wall in St Pauls, Bristol. This is where his story starts.

Tristan was the stand out footballer at his school and his RE teacher remembers well:

“When Tristan first came to this school, you knew straight away he was a special player…everyone wanted to play football with him, he was idolised around the school and people would try to aspire to be like him.” Richard Baker would go on to say that he had “never come across somebody who had such a will to win”. 

Tristan Plummer is a former Bristol City FC player who at the age of 17 was seriously pursued by Arsene Wenger and Arsenal FC.

David Court, the assistant head coach of youth development for arsenal, was quoted by a reporter to have said:

“Tristan is a player we have been following for a very long time, and is not your typical Arsenal player. He is very quick on and off the ball, and has a bag full of tricks. The lad has openly told me that although he is a Bristol boy, he would love the chance to play for Arsenal Football club.”

Plummer went on to make huge strides in the Bristol City academy shirts and built a fantastic reputation of being fast, skillful and have the ability to create something out of nothing.

In one youth game for Bristol City Tristan showed just how creative he was on the field, displaying the vast amount of confidence he has in his own ability. In this game he took the ball in mid-air on the corner of the field, did six kick ups and then rolled the ball over his shoulders before performing a Cruyff turn on the opposing right back and beating the player.  In next moment he showed his trickery again and performed a cross legged assist. [A youtube video showing these two moments]

This was surely a sign of things to come and John Clan (Bristol City Academy U18 coach) puts it in his words:

“Tristan Plummer is a very very exciting player, offers a lot to the team and he’s a very hard worker, very exciting in possession of the ball, very good dribbler and also can score goals so he has a lot of potential”

Tristan comes from a footballing family, where various members of his family were professional or semi professional footballers. Dwayne Plummer, an older brother played for Bristol City and Rovers. Tristan’s eldest brother Paul Plummer describes Tristan as being “like Ian Wright in one sense: explosive in the box, his trickery, scores goals and he’s got a bit of pace about him.”

Tristan went on to represent England U17 at both the Fifa U17 World Cup in Korea (2007) and UEFA European U17 Football Championship in Belgium (2007) where he played alongside the likes of Victor Moses (Wigan), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Danny Wellbeck (Man Utd), Henri Lansbury (Arsenal), Dan Gosling (Newcastle), Jordan Spence (West Ham) et al.

The England U17 team finished runners up in the European Championship to Spain, a tournament that Plummer faced the likes of Mamadou Sakho (Paris SG captain), Bojan (Roma) and Eden Hazard (Lille). Tristan Plummer also scored against the Netherlands in this tournament, his first international goal for England.

The England U17 team also went out of the World Cup in the quarter finals to Germany. This tournament was the one that Toni Kroos and Bojan first made their names on a world scene.

Tristan Plummer had a progressive start to his career at Bristol City, he went on loan as a young striker to Hereford, Luton, Torquay and Gillingham.  The most successful loan being his time at Hereford where he scored 4 goals in 7 games and build a fantastic rapport with the fans.

However, shortly after (2010) Tristan was released by a troubled Bristol City, just when things were looking so bright. Tristan then decided that what he needed in that moment in time was to fall back in love with the game and take a year out from professional football. Something that Nathan Craig also decided to do, while others should.

Tristan joined Hanham Sundays, a sunday league side in Bristol and often played five-a-side football with a friend’s team, in one game an opponent said that his team lost 12 – 0 and Tristan scored 10 of the goals. Tristan also took time out to spend more time with his newly born son, Shay, whom he cherishes and considers as one of the best things about his life.

“I took a step back. Sometimes you just need to take a step back to go forward.”

One year on, after his break from football, Tristan was offered a number of opportunities from different English football league clubs from the leagues one and two. However, Tristan arranged trials abroad and trialled at Portuguese Premier league club  S.C. Olhanense. He wasn’t offered a deal at Olhanense, but the trial opened up doors to Portimonense S.C. where he is currently registered as shirt number 99 and playing regular football again.

 “I just wanted to get out of my surroundings for a bit and just play my football, that is why I never wanted to sign for a local team”

Tristan has found Portuguese football differs in their slower build up play and lack of counter attacking football. Something that may not actually advantage Plummer’s pace, however, the more technical approach to the game in Portugal gives Tristan an opportunity to show what he can do, to show a different side to his game, one where he has more of the ball at his feet.

Tristan is someone with huge ambitions and fully believes that he can “make it to the top” and himself idolises Mohammed Ali and Pele. Plummer is from an area in Bristol that is better known for it’s riots in the 1980’s related to drugs and gangs. The area also witnessed a high crime rate relating to gun violence in the early 2000’s.

However, this is an area of Bristol that has a large Afro-Caribbean population who have such a strong sense of community spirit and an area that has a vibrant parade every year called St Pauls Carnival. St Pauls Carnival is a celebration whereby local communities and schools join in with the 40,000 people who attend the carnival every year.

What Tristan represents is something of an ‘off shoot’ of that celebration and spirit and he for one truly believes that if he “can make it, anyone can make it”. Tristan has an undeniable positive energy about him that rubs off on everyone around him.

Tristan’s future is still as bright as ever. Things look different to the way they did in 2007, but he’s decided he’ll take a different approach to his future. Tristan has said this year that he is “proud to be jamaican” and has expressed his interest in getting an under 21 or national team team call up in the future.

Tristan Plummer has not given up hope on playing for his boyhood team and city and hopes that one day he will get the chance to make his debut for the club he spent eight years at, a city that he spent twenty years growing into:

“I just really wanted to make my debut there, but that never happened so I was a bit gutted because I just love the club. But, I have to crack on now and then maybe I can go back in the future. If I do well somewhere else, maybe they will buy me back“

Tristan Plummer will not end his career at Portimonense S.C., the club will act as a stepping stone to his future. He is playing in the second tier of Portuguese football for now. But within a season or two of regular football Tristan will be making huge strides towards where he belongs, he belongs in the top tiers of football, a level that the rest of his England U17 team mates are playing at.

If I were a betting man, I would be putting my money on Tristan playing his football in the top tiers of football in the near future, not because of his ability to create something out of nothing, or his ‘Ian Wright’-like attributes. But because of his character, his self belief and his sheer determination to reach for the stars and leave a mark on not just young footballers growing up in Bristol but young footballers growing up worldwide:

“ ‘I am the greatest’ and hopefully that’s what I will be before the end of my career anyway”

Tristan Plummer

Interview quotes courtesy of http://www.theelastico.com and BREAD Youth Project’s video