Bermuda football has lost another one of its ambassadors who played the “beautiful game” hard but fair.

Troy Berkeley, the former Somerset Trojans and Bermuda winger, passed away at the weekend at age 56 after a long bout with illness.

He won numerous league and cup honours during a highly successful career playing under various coaches at Somerset where he rose up through the youth ranks before making his mark at senior level.

“Troy just wasn’t a team-mate, he was a lifelong friend,” Dennis Brown, the former Trojans captain, said.

“I met Troy when I was about eleven in the youth programme at Somerset. We played in the senior team together and also in the national under-16 youth team and senior national team together so we have not just been team-mates but friends for ever.”

Brown said his late team-mate was a player who always showed up when it mattered most.

“Troy was a big-day player,” he added. “He wanted to be in the big games and a lot of the big games we won he contributed hugely in those games.

“I can remember a game we went to Dandy Town and we were a point behind them [in the league] with two games to go. We had to beat them at St John’s Field and Troy popped up and scored a brilliant goal from outside the box. We ended up winning 1-0 and went on to win the league.

“The other game that stands out to me was the 1987-88 FA Cup final replay at Somerset. We played Devonshire Colts and Troy scored both goals and we ended up winning 2-1. That was the first time we had won the FA Cup for about eight years.

“Troy was a huge contributor to the success of our team in the 1980s. We won the league three years in a row undefeated.

“Troy was a very vibrant person and always full of energy who is a big loss, not just for the Sandys community, but Bermuda as a whole.

“He’s like a brother to all of us and we always kept in contact. Just two weeks ago he came to my house and we were talking about life and he mentioned he was tired of suffering and stuff like that.

“A bunch of us sat around at the hospital the other night just reminiscing about what he brought into our lives, not just for football, but life in general.”

Norbert Simons, one of the coaches Berkeley played under at Somerset, described the late player as “exceptionally talented”, “passionate” and perhaps above all “humble”.

Simons said, “Troy was an exceptionally talented player who had two good feet and could play on either wing.

“He was a passionate and humble player but you never saw him go over the top. He would score goals and not make a lot of fuss — and he scored some really important and good goals for Somerset over the years.

“One of his outstanding performances for me outside of league play was when he played against Arsenal at Somerset in 1987. He played on the flank and we lost that game 1-0 to an 86th-minute own goal; he was really outstanding.

“He was really serious when he played his football, but get him in the changing room or in other settings and he was always the life of the party.”

After hanging up his boots Berkeley gave back to the sport by creating opportunities for up-and-coming players.

“Troy was a professional agent and got a lot of children scholarships to school and professional trials,” Larry Hunt, the former Trojans defender and coach, said.

“He worked at the Department of Youth and Sport for a few years and even coached Ireland Rangers when he finished playing for Trojans.

“He went back and put something back in the community of Dockyard having started at Ireland Rangers before coming to us after we older Trojans were just finishing.

“Troy was always a die-hard Ireland Rangers man. He came over to Trojans with a bunch of guys from Ireland Rangers, which was more or less a farm club for us.

“He was a good right winger who loved the game and was also a strong Tottenham fan like me.

“This is a big loss to the community. Troy stayed right across from the club and very rarely missed a game until later years when he got sick.

“He’s going to be greatly missed in the community and football fraternity.”