Shrewsbury’s Omar Beckles looks ahead to facing Liverpool
OMAR Beckles has sung Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds twice. Once was for his initiation as a Shrewsbury Town player, the other when he joined up for the first time with Grenada’s national team.
On each occasion he has had a picture of his dad Linton in his head. Each time, personal to him, it has been a tribute to his father. “Don’t worry about a thing ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright Singin’ don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright”
Now it is coming alright for Beckles.
Today, he plays against the best club side in the world: Liverpool.
They are European champions, Premier League winners-elect but Beckles, 28, is ready to take them on in the FA Cup.
He has taken on more in his life. And he’s winning.
His dad died when he was only 59 of pneumonia and Omar took over the role of providing and protecting his mother, brother and sister five years ago.
It took a severe toll.
Omar has played for enough Non-League clubs to almost form his own division – Boreham Wood, Kettering Town, Billericay Town, Histon, Hornchuch and St Albans City among them – as he tried to make a football career.
He was at Aldershot when his dad, a singer with jazz-funk band Central Line, died.
Beckles got his move into the Football League with Accrington Stanley the following year but, even with things going well, he’d get to his room and break down in tears.
It was through the pressure Beckles was putting on himself, to do what his dad would have done. Did he ever give up on his football dream?
“One hundred per cent. It’s not easy. You’re playing part-time, you’re chasing your dream,” he said.
“I remember going to Kettering and was sold the dream of full-time football and thinking ‘Nice’.
“Then they couldn’t pay our wages. First month it was late. Second month they couldn’t pay it at all. I ended up going to Boreham Wood.
“At Billericay, I was working in a school. I was a PE teacher. I did a lot of coaching and smashed out my UEFA B licence.”
He moved to Shrewsbury nearly two and a half years ago and was on the verge of playing in the Championship until the Shrews lost to Rotherham in the League One play-off final in May 2018.
Shrewsbury have been to Wembley five times in play-off finals or the EFL Trophy and lost the lot, so today is likely to be their Cup Final, whether they win or lose against Liverpool.
Beckles and his Grenadian international team-mate Aaron Pierre will be in defence against whichever stars Liverpool decide to put out, bearing in mind they were an hour down the road from Shrewsbury at Wolves on Thursday and will play away at West Ham next Wednesday.
“I always believed in being the best I could be,” says Beckles. “I could say it was all down to a lot of don’t-give-up mentality. But, being a Christian, I believe God’s grace kicked in as well.”
Underdogs
But what happened when Omar’s dad died, the effect it had on him and his life, is very much part of what Beckles is now, taking him to the day where he might play against the Liverpool player he admires most: the experienced James Milner, right.
“James Milner. Why are you surprised?” asks Beckles.
“He’s a class example of a footballer. He’s 34 years old, he’s versatile, plays in all sorts of positions. He takes it all on the chin.
“He’s got a heart that’s willing to serve and do whatever the team needs.
“We are not expecting Salah, Firmino, Mane – but if they turn up it will be legendary. We think they will be resting a few lads.
“It might make it tougher because those on the fringes have a point to prove. Those who are in the team every week might think, ‘I can’t be bothered’. So we’ll see.’
Beckles has already done his giant-killing, him and Pierre helping Grenada to the Gold Cup for only the third time in the nation’s history.
To put it in perspective, the population of Grenada is 108,774, which is not much more than Shrewsbury’s 71,715.
“The FA Cup is magical, special,” says Beckles, putting aside for the moment that the big clubs are giving the Cup the elbow.
“It’s hard to compare this cup-tie with taking Grenada to the Gold Cup. But international football holds a sentimental space for me and why I’m playing there, through my old man.
“I was at Aldershot when Grenada first contacted me, and my father is the connection to Grenada. That’s what makes it more sentimental.
Because my father passed away, there was always a thing with the family to go out there,
It might tougher make it on because those the fringes of the team Liverpool point to have a prove
so we thought it would be a nice touch for me and Dahlia to get married there.
“You connect with family, you finally put faces to names. I’m quite a traditionalist. My father was no longer around so I wanted to do my utmost to provide.
Anxiety
“Anyone who has to deal with the trauma of losing a loved one deals with it in different ways. “Speaking up about what I went through was because I saw the stigma and now I was a person carrying that stigma.
“We had a player, Billy Kee, at the time I was at Accrington.
“He was away for two months and I just didn’t get it. I’m like: ‘You’re the highest earner, you have no excuses.
Get on with it. I don’t know what your issue is. Get on with it.’’
Kee is still dealing with his mental illness issues and Beckles has set up his own charity, Hub365foundation, to help those who are suffering in silence as he did.
“It doesn’t matter who you are a player, a manager, or a reporter we all go through some kind of depression or anxiety.
“That’s why I really wanted to be a voice for that.
“With me, I really built up to tension. The doctor said this happens a lot with high performance high achievers. In doing that, you can almost build unrealistic expectations
“When you put all that weight on yourself, it’s too much for any of us to bear.
It got the better of me.
“I was so tense that in my sleep I would be (he grimaces) grinding my teeth. My thoughts would be circling my head. I’d have lockjaw.”
It still happens intermittently, but Beckles knows the signs now. It’s a warning.
“We’re footballers and not perceived as humans. We’re not allowed to be,” he says. “There’s a responsibility as footballers where you can’t be a normal guy. I remember the story of the Sheffield United player (Oli McBurnie) who went to watch a game as a Swansea fan. “You have to be constantly politically correct whoever you’re talking to. When you’re already wearing a mask, that’s not comfortable. “I’ve had experiences over the years of suicides. I had a friend who committed suicide.
“I was in my teens and he was only 16.
“Another friend attempted it two or three years ago. Second-hand, I’ve known people who have gone through it.
“I’ve always asked myself the question, ‘How did that happen when I was around?’
“I’m on the other side now of my problems but I feel there are new levels, new devils. It’s a constant battle.
“It was part of the grieving process for my dad. Whatever that trauma is, then it takes you and you are in depression.
“For anyone who attempts to commit suicide, you will never get it.
“You’ll think, ‘They just lost him or her’ and that’s what we need to address.
“But it’s not easy to just go back to normal. I want to use this platform and have an impact one way or another.” Every little thing is gonna be alright.