BEHIND every successful team, there's always a driving force that makes them click.

George Sousa was no exception to the rule as he guided the Bermuda Athletic Association (BAA) to a clean sweep of domestic majors in 1956, including among them, the inaugural FA Cup crown.

A hard tackling full-back, Sousa went on to break many barriers, including the cultural barrier, when he hoisted the prestigious FA Cup to become the first Portuguese player to do so.

He would also become the first Portuguese player to captain Bermuda in football, be elected as president of BAA and also the former Belmont Golf Club.

And that's not all. For Sousa was also nifty with the irons himself and also in softball, not to mention table tennis and cricket.

Back in 1956 when Sousa basked in the glory of an FA Cup championship, never did he envision that 24 years later a Portuguese club would also lay claim to the prestigious showpiece - but that's exactly what former club Vasco achieved in 1979/80. And even at the age of 72, Sousa displays few signs of slowing down. In fact, getting him to remain seated for this interview proved to be a challenge in itself.^.^.kind of makes one wonder just how in the world strikers coped with the former player during in his heyday.

"I think that we beat the team that should've been in the final with us and that was Key West Rangers in the semi-final," recalled Sousa.

"Bummy (Cal Symonds) at the time was already overseas (playing professionally) and he came back here for the match (semi-final). I almost received a haemorrhage because I went up to head a ball and it struck my arm and Bummy came up to take the penalty and he struck it down Happy Valley. So I was very pleased that he tried to knock the goalpost down and missed the penalty."

However, getting by Key West was only one obstacle, while defeating Southampton Rangers in the final at the former Prospect Field (present National Sports Centre) posed another.

But two goals from David Thorne and an additional penalty strike from Chris Triantopulos saw BAA safely through to an historical FA Cup triumph.

To this present day, Sousa insists the final score was 3-1 and not 3-2 according to Bermuda Football Association records.

"The only difference from then and today I think was that we had crowds in excess of 3,000 come out to watch our matches. But you just don't see that anymore because the families don't come out like they used to," added Sousa.

"When we played at Nationals (former Nationals Sports Club) back in the days when you had the white and coloured leagues, they would draw about 3,000 fans and we would also have about 3,000 spectators at our match. It was amazing."

BAA also advanced into the 1958 FA Cup final but were defeated this time around by Wellington Rovers 4-2.

According to Sousa, the unavailability of 'keeper Vivian Siddle, who missed the match through regimental duty, played a major factor in his team's demise.

"I don't really use that as an excuse. They (Rovers) beat us fair and square. So now I have a FA Cup winner's medal and a runner's up medal," said a proud Sousa, pointing to a photograph depicting his medals - 24 in total - amassed from various sports.

Captaining Bermuda also brings a big smile to the veteran's face.

"I captained Bermuda for three years (1956 to 1959) and I was very pleased to do it. The BFC (Bermuda Football Combination) was gradually going out and the white players were becoming less and less.

"We went from four (white players in the team) to three and then two where it was just myself and Siddle.

"After that (desegregation) everyone played together."

Sousa was glad to see the colour barrier finally come crashing down.

He added: "I'm really proud to have witnessed the glass ceiling come down. In those days it was whites, coloured and Portuguese. A lot of guys helped me in those days and a lot of them were expatriates and they never stopped to see how you spelled your name. They were just interested in what your capabilities were in sports.

"And I'm very proud to have been the first person of Portuguese extraction to not only be captain of my team, but also become president of BAA in 1960."

Sousa broke another cultural barrier in 1962 when he became the president of Belmont Golf Club where he played a prominent role in desegregating the course, otherwise off-limits to non-white players.

"We had so much of this stupidity going on between white and black and all of this racism stuff," added the outspoken veteran.

"When I first became president of BAA, I was a type of person who you had to show me. . . not just tell me. I used to always ask 'where in the constitution does it state that blacks can't play on the field before 12 o' clock on Sunday?' And they couldn't show me. So I had that changed," said Sousa.

"And then when I got into Belmont we had some of the best golfers in Bermuda. Fellows like Lionel Benevides, David Ferreira and Louis Minors had to wait 20 years before they could play at Belmont. Why? I want to know why, I asked. And they couldn't give me an answer. But we finally broke that barrier also."

The veteran also reaped moderate success in softball, running and table tennis while serving his time in the former Bermuda Rifle Corps and won the men's division in the 1981 Belmont Seniors Open championships. Sousa also represented Bermuda overseas in golf in Santo Domingo in 1969.

Asked which football player he found to be most challenging, Sousa didn't hesitate for one moment to reply Earl (Townsey) Russell.

"There's nothing better then receiving compliments from your peers," he noted. "Once Townsey told me that whenever he came down the middle and was facing me, he always turned around and tried to come back another way.

"And Bummy said that I was one of the best headers of the ball that he ever played against."

Ironically, it would be that same heading prowess which forced Sousa to retire from football in 1962 at the age of 32.

" I went down to Nationals to play for BAA's B team who were having a bit of trouble at the time," Sousa recalled.

"I normally played full-back but on this day I decided to play centre-half and I went up to head a ball and I headed my own nephew in the back of the head and split my eye wide open. I ran off the field and said . . . 'I will never do that again'."

Sousa also provided a bit of advice for some of today's up and coming prospects.

"The main thing is that you must always remember is that if you want it bad enough, then you must be prepared to sacrifice and you must keep in shape. If you like it and work hard at it, then you will have something to look back on like I'm doing right now.

"Today, everybody expects someone to hand them something, but it takes hard work and a lot of sacrifice to get you to where it is that you want to go."