The St George’s community is mourning the death of one of its top footballers from the 1950s and ’60s.

Sinclair “Charger” Reid, a centre back for Wellington Rovers, who also played for Bermuda select teams, died last Thursday aged 79 after suffering from leukaemia.

Reid was part of the Rovers team that won the FA Challenge Cup in the 1957-58 season, when they beat BAA 4-2 to become the third team to claim the trophy, behind inaugural winners BAA in 1955-56 and PHC in 1956-57.

That team included goalkeeper Dennis Wainwright, Charles “Jukebox” Smith, Reginald “Red” Smith, Cal Brown, Eddie Wright, Fred “Dickty” Trott, Russell Knights, James Smith, Maxwell “Hard Drop” Burgess and Frederick “Crazy Horse” Hall, the father of Troy Hall and grandfather of the present Bermuda goalkeeper, Freddy Hall.

Joe Burrows also played with Rovers but left them that season to play for Dock Hill Rangers.

“They were a formidable team, the third team to win the FA Cup and “Charger” was a big part of that, I would say a tower of strength at centre back,” said Noel “Sub” Smith, a former St George’s Colts player and the younger brother of James Smith.

“Any select team that was made up from the BFC [Bermuda Football Combination] and BFL [Bermuda Football League], he was picked.

“I knew he was sick but hadn’t seen him for a long time.”

In those days teams played with three at the back and Dennis Wainwright said that he could always count on Reid to be solid at the heart of the defence.

Wainwright recalls travelling to Iceland with the first BFA touring team that also contained Reid, Wright, Knights and Gilbert Darrell from Rovers.

“Charger was a good anticipator but initially weak in the air, however he was prepared to work on his game, even perfecting his heading while he was working at Maytag.

“Cal “Bummy” Symonds was good but when he came up against “Charger” Reid, “Charger” told him ‘not today’. He was a very, very confident player. Everybody knew “Charger” was a top centre back, one of the best we’ve ever produced. I didn’t play with anybody who was better than him.

“We talked often and would always talk about football. He had a good memory and I used to say he remembered every ball he kicked in that FA final.”

BAA were the favourites at National Sports Club but the underdogs rose to the challenge.

“They were a top team and nobody gave us a chance,” Wainwright remembers.

“I think Cal Brown scored two goals that day.”

Wainwright left Rovers in 1961 and joined Young Men’s Social Club who went three years unbeaten, winning three FA Cups between 1962 and ’65 and three league titles.

“Teams knew they couldn’t come to Garrison Field and beat us,” Wainwright said.

“I remember the crowds at Garrison Field being three or four deep. We had a lot of pride and were a family-oriented team.”

The rivalry was strong between Rovers and St George’s, with Noel Smith conceding that Rovers were the top team in St George’s in those days.

“Charger tried to get most of St George’s players to play for the Rovers, to keep the team going, but that didn’t work out,” Smith said.

“We saw that St George’s were a better option for us at the time, they had the field and the club, so we joined with St George’s in 1960-61. But Rovers had the big programme and were the football team in St George’s while St George’s Cricket Club was the cricket team.”

Wellington Rovers dropped out of the BFA league in 1978 to be a part of the Eastern Soccer League which formed that year.

Reid is survived by his five children and nine grandchildren, including five grandsons who play football.

His daughter Queena Cannonier said that her father always talked fondly about his Rovers days and his team-mates, but never mentioned own accomplishments.

“I heard it every day when I was growing up and when I got married my children heard it,” Cannonier said.

“He loved the game and loved to share it with his family.

“I heard it from other people that my dad was a very good player, but never my dad, and that’s a sign of humility.

He always talked about everybody else, but never made himself larger than his team.”

Reid and his wife Sheila, who died in 2012, ran Reid’s Restaurant in St George’s for 28 years. The funeral will be held on November 7.