In lieu of a Magnificent Memories article of previous West
Indies matches and, or associations we are instead pleased
to present Bruce Anansen’s recollections of his very special
friendship with the now sadly departed Tony Harford. Having
served the Caribbean and in particular West Indies cricket for
well over 20 years, Harford passed away peacefully in his sleep
this past December 3, at the age of 68.
Harford was the director at All Sport Promotions Limited
and former television news and sports anchor in Trinidad
and Tobago for 16 years, as well as having served as a radio
presenter for more than three decades. He is well-known for
his impact on both Trinidad & Tobago’s and regional cricket
and is remembered for being the first commercial manager of
the West Indies cricket team. He also managed and marketed
the first ICC Under-15 Cricket World Championship in the
Caribbean and the first cricket event at Disney Wide World of
Sport in 1999.
Bruce and Tony first met during the early eighties and really got
to know each other from playing fete match cricket together.
Tony was at the time playing for the NBS Touring team, while
Bruce was a member of the Royal Bank team.
Their mutual admiration inspired friendship developed to such
a degree that in 1986, they purchased a Carlos Street building
as joint partners! The building served as an eleven bedroom
Guest House which Bruce and Tony used to host sporting
teams, largely from England and the Caribbean comprised
of mainly youths, that were visiting Trinidad to participate in
various events being held on the island.
Their initial, benevolence inspired, rate for stays at the Guest
House was a meager US$10 per person, per day. That Bruce
says, was a direct reflection of the fact that Tony “was never about
money! He always just wanted to see people being happy!” His
way of facilitating that was to help them to be able to play their
favorite sport in as affordable a manner as possible.
Bruce’s wife Margaret, actually worked with Tony as his
Assistant from the time that the partnership was formed up
until their first grandchild was born. She’d told Tony from Day
I, that the birth of her first grandchild would signify the end of
her working association with the Company.
The Guest House continued its operations until almost to the end
of the nineteen nineties. By then, however, it had long since stopped
making any money and had become far more of a financial liability
than an asset. Getting reliable people to work at the Guest House,
serving meals, cleaning and performing other essential duties, had
also become a major challenge. As such the building was eventually
sold.
Following the sale of the Carlos Street Guest House, Bruce, and Tony
formed All Sports Promotions as a Company that was specifically
geared towards managing, developing, and promoting sports tours.
The idea for All Sports was formulated as a result of Bruce himself
having been directly involved, as a member of the Club’s Executive
Committee, in the organization in a Queen’s Park Cricket Club
(QPCC) 1998 tour to Australia.
The QPCC team for that tour included the likes of Andre Lawrence as captain, Gus Logie and Suruj
Ragoonath, the latter two of whom of course subsequently became
West Indies players.
The month-long tour involved matches in Melbourne, Perth and
Sydney, played at all of those respective cities’ world-renowned
cricket venues. Subsequent All-Stars promoted tours included return
visits to Australia in 2008 and 2010.
In 2013 an AllSports Promotions Caribbean U16 Team also participated
in a three-team tournament also involving similar-aged players form
India and the hosts Australia that was staged at the world-famous Sir
Donald Bradman Oval. The Caribbean U16 team eventually won the
tournament by turning the tables in the final against their Australian
hosts, who had defeated them in their first-round encounter.
In 2017 All Sports Promotions took an U17 team, which
included the current West Indies wicket-keeper batsman
Joshua DaSilva, on a tour to New Zealand. Such projects
were just a few of the countless, youth oriented, initiatives
Bruce and Tony embarked upon together as partner
owners of All Sports Promotions.
“Tony could sell an Eskimo ice!”
That was Bruce’s immediate response when asked to
articulate what he considered to be Tony Harford’s finest
quality. Tony he said was single-handedly responsible
for generating the funds required to undertake all of All
Sports’ countless sporting tours. He had a unique knack
for getting corporations and even also some government
ministries to provide the levels of funding that were
required to allow such tours to actually take place.
Grenada’s Prime Minister Keith Mitchell was one of Tony’s
many influential and high-ranking close friends. Mitchell had
helped Tony to develop and manage All Sports’ Annual
Windball Tournament which eventually ran for 13 years.
That involvement culminated in the previously mentioned
1999 visit to the Disney Wide World of Sports by well
over 400 windball enthusiasts, for that venue’s first-ever
such tournament which involved teams and players from
all over the Caribbean, Canada, the UK, and the USA.
Tony’s absolute disregard for money concerns was also
reflected in the prices he’d charged those participating
in the charter he’d organized to go to the Bahrain in
support of the Trinidad & Tobago team’s 2002 World Cup
qualification participation. He did the very same thing four
years later when the Trinidad team actually made it to the
World Cup finals in Germany, developing and pricing a
group charter at the lowest possible price as a means of
allowing as many people as possible to be able to afford
their participation.
One of Tony’s most favored activities was to organize
impromptu Bingo games as a means of raising funds
towards some worthwhile sports-oriented cause.
Whether it was to secure gears for a club or any other
such needs. He’d bought a huge set of Bingo cards, and
would instantly organize fundraising games wherever
and whenever necessary. Traveling all over the island of
Trinidad in the course of doing so.
He would stage such games in houses, at club venues, even
at times in some folks’ garages. He would also serve as the
Bingo Caller himself and never charge a cent for his time
spent doing so. Every dime of the monies subsequently raised would
go directly towards the cause for which they had been intended.
“He just simply enjoyed doing whatever he could to make people
happy. He was definitely one of a kind in that respect!”
If Tony had only $40 in his pocket and he then ran into someone
who desperately needed $50, he would go and borrow the required
$10 from someone else in other to make the person in need happy!
That was the measure of the man!” He was an extremely generous
guy.
Tony Harford’s contribution to West Indies crickets was at its fullest
during Pat Rosseau’s term as President. The two had become close
friends and Tony himself accompanied the West Indies Team on
several of its tours during Rosseau’s tenure. He also became very
involved in securing several very lucrative corporate sponsorships
for West Indies cricket during that period.
Tony was also directly involved in several other sporting projects.
He ran the Republic Bank Golf Tournament for 27 years consecutive
years, His involvement was duly recognized by the Bank through its
granting him an award just two weeks before his passing.
Bruce’s enduring memory of Tony, his now sadly departed friend of
over thirty years will be that of his kindness to everyone he met,
especially younger-aged kids.
“He treated my grandchildren much like they were his very own!”
“He would come up the road to my place, just to see them! He was
a very special person!”
Tony never wanted fame or fortune. His primary objective in life was
very simply to make others happy.
Magnificent memories indeed of a life well-lived. Farewell Tony
Harford. Walk Good.