‘Lindy’ in hospital, but said to be in good spirits
Broadcaster and former English League star footballer Lindbergh ‘Lindy’ Delapenha is now in hospital.
Reports are that Delapenha was admitted earlier this week after what is suspected to be a heart attack. He is said to be in good spirits.
Delapenha who reports for Power 106 was head of sports at the now defunct JBC for a number of years.
The eighty-six-year-old Delapenha is the first Jamaican footballer to play professionally in England and he also represented the island at golf.
After a phenomenal performance as a schoolboy athlete, taking part in 16 events over a one-and-a-half day period, he served with the British armed forces in the Middle East following World War II. During his service, an English football scout saw him playing football for the British army.
This gained him a trial with Arsenal, but he did not sign for the club, and in April 1948 he joined Portsmouth. Although it is claimed he was the first non-white player to appear in the English Football League First Division, he was actually predated by several other non-white players, including Arthur Wharton, who played a First Division match for Sheffield United as far back as 1894-95.
He went on to win a league championship medal with Portsmouth in 1948. In April 1950, after a successful few years with Portsmouth, he transferred to Middlesbrough where his career took off. He played on the wing or inside-forward, and became Boro’s leading scorer in the 1951-52, 1953-54 and 1955-56 seasons. In total he scored 93 league and FA Cup goals in 270 appearances.
He moved to Mansfield Town in June 1958, contributing 27 goals in 115 appearances over two years, before retiring from League football in 1960.
After three years of non-league football, initially with Hereford United, he moved back to Jamaica.
As a golfer, Delapenha first competed in the Hoerman Cup in Jamaica in 1965 when the event was open only to teams from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. He has the distinction of having competed on eight winning teams for the Hoerman Cup (Men), Francis & Steele-Perkins Trophy (Senior Men) and the Higgs & Higgs Trophy (Super Senior Men).
Delapenha, who first started playing golf at age 35 while in England, has also won a number of local titles, including the Jamaica Open (amateur division) and the Jamaica National Amateur Championships. He has also won the Jamaica Match Play Championships a total of seven times.
