Bishop’s Stortford forward Ryan Charles reflects on Saint Lucia international call-up

When approaching the twilight of your semi-pro football career, the last thing you would expect is an international call-up, writes Neal Harrington.

But that is exactly what happened to Bishop’s Stortford forward Ryan Charles, who is now an international for the Caribbean island paradise of Saint Lucia.

The 29-year-old winger was called up for two CONCACAF Nations League matches against Saint Martin earlier this month.

Colchester-based Charles, nicknamed Spider, started both games at Saint Lucia’s Daren Sammy Cricket Ground as a 2-1 win was followed by a 4-0 defeat.

The attacker, who was born in Walthamstow, qualifies through the grandfather on his mother’s side being born in Saint Lucia.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Charles. “I’ve been too excited to be nervous. The family are proud of me.”

He relished the five-star luxury experience, saying: “It’s the best I have eaten, probably ever!

“I wasn’t expected to start the matches. The intensity is the main thing - it can be at 100mph. “The warm-ups are 10 times harder in intensity. A lot of tactics are involved. It’s more of a state of mind, you think in a different way.”

The call-up gave Charles the chance to catch up with Carlisle United defender and Saint Lucia captain Terell Thomas after they were members of the same Arsenal under-sevens squad.

Despite the mixed results, Saint Lucia lead their group by two points from Curacao. They will be hoping to secure promotion to League A with matches against Curacao and Grenada in mid-November. Promotion would also seal their place in the Gold Cup for the first time.

“Hopefully I can be part of Saint Lucia history,” said Charles, who is closing in on 200 appearances for Stortford with 40 goals to his name.