| Defender of the faith - Linvoy Primus |
 Faith and football might not be obvious partners, but for Pompey defender Linvoy Primus both are a part of his life. He’s come a long way in his football career and he’s not finished yet. At 36, his new contract with Portsmouth includes an ambassadorial and mentor role to the younger players. Injured for nearly two years, Linvoy made a comeback to the Portsmouth first team this May. He received a standing ovation from the home crowd and was cheered each time he touched the ball. ‘The club belongs to the fans; it’s their club. I’ve never experienced such passionate support at any other club,’ Linvoy writes in his brutally honest autobiography Transformed, now available in paperback. He’s not shy in telling of his football experiences and how his life has been transformed.  Linvoy grew up in a happy home with his parents and step-brother. They lived on the 17th floor in a Stratford tower block in the London borough of Newham. ‘Mum and Dad brought a very disciplined approach to our home life… We may have been short of money but I always felt well-fed and never went without the essentials of life.’ ‘My parents had been brought up in the West Indies with church as a big part of their lives, and from an early age I was taken to nearby St Paul’s in Stratford every week. I enjoyed Sunday school, knew all the Bible stories and songs… it instilled in me a very strong sense of right and wrong, and also a fear of ungodly things.’ He enjoyed football with his dad but it was watching the 1981 Cup Final on TV that proved a real turning point. ‘From that moment I fell in love with football, or more particularly all the excitement, the passion, and the drama of the game.’ As a teenager his playing career took off with an apprenticeship with Charlton. He signed his first professional contract in 1992. But Linvoy was tempted by the choices he now had. ‘I was leading a double life – during the day as a footballer with all the discipline that entailed, and at night, out and about in the pubs and clubs with my friends away from football.’ ‘Everything revolved around football, with my needs paramount in the family. But increasingly I felt there was something missing in my life.’ By 2001, the family were under pressure and his wife Trish was suffering from depression. She made friends with a Christian family who invited the Primus’s to church. They decided to give it a go. ‘This doesn’t look like the sort of church I remember’, Linvoy muttered to himself when they arrived. But they liked what they saw and heard and kept going back. Linvoy began to ask questions of their new found friends like ‘was there life after death?’ and simply ‘what does it take to go to heaven?’ ‘Somehow I believed in judgement and a reckoning of our good deeds, but was unsure of the form it would take…’ His new friend Keith was firm in his reply: “That’s not right. The only way to be saved is to call on the name of Jesus and accept Him into your life.” ‘I really couldn’t believe that it was as simple as that… Then I came to my senses with the realisation: “What have I got to lose? I’ve got it all to gain.” So I said to Keith: “What do I have to do to be saved then?” To which he replied: “Just merely say a prayer of salvation (like the one on page 2 of this paper) – why don’t you say the prayer with me now?”’ Trish had said that same prayer the week before so was delighted when her husband followed her example. ‘The following day I casually picked up the Bible and read from John’s Gospel. Suddenly there was something different about it, just as I had been told would happen. To my surprise there were little bits of text that I understood, that I hadn’t come across before, and that had meaning for me.’ Linvoy turned to a fellow player and Christian for advice and soon found himself dedicating his life with this prayer: ‘God, whatever you want me to do I will do, and I give it all over to you.’ Linvoy is very honest in his account when he says that he still had a lot to learn. He faced ridicule from some of his team mates which was replaced by curiosity. He knows that God has a plan for him and he’s prepared to stand up for what he believes in both on and off the pitch. The charity he set up Faith & Football (www.faithandfootball. org.uk) provides a range of community, educational and overseas programmes using football as a platform for relationship building. Linvoy’s story continues as he follows Jesus, his Saviour, his rescuer and friend. Two years ago the autobiography of our charity’s patron Linvoy Primus was published in hardback book form entitled ‘Transformed’ and it went on to become a best seller at Christmas 2007 in both the Christian and sports book markets both nationally and locally. The book was reprinted twice subsequently to meet the demand, and went on to sell out of the 7000 printed copies. Linvoy Primus Transformed is available from Verité at a special price of £9.50 (including P&P). Order online at www.veriteshop.co.uk or call 01903 241975 |
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