Cole Palmer receives hero’s welcome on St. Kitts

Palmer receives a traditional Kittitian welcome | Photo by: Daryl Grant

Chelsea partied long into the night on Sunday after our delightfully dominant 3-0 win over PSG in the Club World Cup final. For the first time in about twelve months, we didn’t have to go to work the following morning!

Since then, the players have dispersed into the far corners of the globe, getting three weeks off before having to get back into the swing of things for the new season.

Some went back home to be rightly adored — such as Moisés Caicedo getting his personal parade, literally, on top of

a fire truck in Santo Domingo, Ecuador — while others opted for more classic vacations, such as Andrey Santos going road tripping with the fam, or Marc Guiu going surfing in Hawaii. Cowabunga, dude!

For Cole Palmer, the first stop was, of all places, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the tiny island nation in the Caribbean whose flag he proudly wears on his football boots, honoring his heritage. Cole’s grandfather immigrated to England as part of the Windrush generation, settling in Manchester and passing on his love of football to his descendants.

The BBC did a very nice video on this topic a few months ago; well worth watching:

Palmer’s arrival was big news on the little island, and he showed off his trophies, shook hands with dignitaries, chatted with the country’s leaders, checked out the sights and the sounds, and of course continued to inspire the local youth. Lovely stuff.

“Cole Palmer’s visit to St. Kitts and Nevis is a powerful reminder of the strength and pride of our diaspora. His presence and mentorship will inspire the next generation to believe that global success is possible, no matter where you come from. We are proud to welcome him home and deeply grateful for his commitment to our young people and to the development of sports in our Federation.”

-Dr Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis

Photo by: Daryl Grant

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On a personal note, while I’m not big on keeping up with Chelsea players outside of their (strictly) footballing lives, this one hits a bit closer to home, funnily enough.

While I don’t personally have any specific connections to St. Kitts, my stepfather worked in the country for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the late ‘80s. In fact, he was the first manager of the then newly established Brimstone Hill National Park. (He wrote about that a couple years ago a three-part series of blog posts: 1, 2, 3.) To this day, he loves the island and has gone back multiple times to visit.

I was lucky enough to accompany him on one of those trips almost exactly ten years ago as well. Didn’t see too many Chelsea shirts back then; but best lobster of my life, served out of some random seaside shack on Frigate Bay!

Dávid Pásztor

Looking south from Brimstone Hill

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