IN seven years at Sporting Central Academy, there wasn’t a day that Francois Swaby didn’t yearn to leave the Clarendon-based Red Stripe Premier League side.

But not for parish rivals Humble Lion. Or any other local club, for that matter. Swaby, like most local players, saw himself quitting Sporting only for an overseas outfit.

But in modern-day sports, it seems the unthinkable is always possible. Swaby is now a bona fide Humble Lion player, having signed for the central Clarendon side in the January transfer window.

By all accounts, he’s already a roaring Lion, putting in his usual energetic performances before scoring his first goal in a recent victory over Tivoli Gardens. Yet, the ultimate test will come tomorrow night when the 26-year-old lines up against his former teammates for a live TV audience, as Humble Lion host Sporting Central in the Monday night game at the Effortville Community Centre, starting at 8:30 pm.

Swaby isn’t the only ex-Sporting player who made the switch to the parish capital. Including defenders Kevon Reid and Gregory Lewis, plus winger Levaughn Williams, there are no fewer than six former Sporting players in the Humble Lion squad. But Swaby’s presence as a Sporting Central opponent is much more delicate. He’s a former club captain and their goalscoring hero of many relegation battles. A ‘Mr Sporting Central’, if you will.

On Friday evening, as he prepared to face his former club for the first time in his career, Swaby said there were no nerves. Yet, in the same breath, he could not predict what will happen on game night.

“Right now, everything is good, but I don’t know how I will feel on the day,” he said. “It will be weird, because it’s my first time playing against them. But, at the same, I have to think like a professional.”

And should he score, would he celebrate?

“No, I don’t think so,” he replied. “I have a lot of respect for them; Sporting made me the player I am, and I have to say ‘thank you’ to everybody at the club. So to celebrate would feel disrespectful.”

That’s understandable. Swaby first walked through the gates of Brancourt at age 19, fresh out of Spalding High. He made an instant impact with the fans, but it wasn’t exactly for his goalscoring habit. His was sort of a love-hate relationship with the Sporting faithful. They admired him for his high work rate, always harassing opposing defenders, which often times created space for either him or his teammates in front of goal. But after doing the leg work, Swaby would often need multiple opportunities to score one goal — which was never an appealing aspect for the fans.

Over time, he would, however, grow into the role of the club’s leading man — their most prized asset: a goalscoring hero, a role model to the younger players and a fan favourite.

But at the end of the day, Swaby wanted more and, at Sporting, he just never saw that coming.

“I needed a new challenge,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “At Sporting, I (felt) static. I couldn’t see the improvement, so I needed to make a change.”

“At first, they didn’t want me to leave,” he added. “But after they realised I was serious about the move they allowed me to go.”

Two months on, Swaby said there is still mutual respect between himself and Sporting.

“Everything is good,” he said.

With players and management?

“Yeah, man. With everybody. We link same way,” he assured.

But at Humble Lion, he said, things are different, likening his arrival at Effortville to the first day of a new school.

“Humble Lion is much more organised, from top to bottom,” noted Swaby. “Players are always on time for training and you can see the commitment.

“At first, it (felt) strange. In the first game I wasn’t that settled. I was still getting to know everybody and they were getting to understand how I play. But after a while, everything fell into place.”

“It is a very competitive environment,” he added. It is always challenging. The fans are passionate and, as a player, you have to be consistent, always on your ‘A game’, if you want to stay in the team. That is why we are so confident, not only because we have good players, but because of work hard.”

And on his first attempt at a new challenge, Swaby could actually get the opportunity to play in the play-offs, should Humble Lion — who entered this round of games five points clear of fifth place — cement their fourth-place status at the end of the prelims. Yet Swaby wants more than just a semi-final appearance.

He said: “Our last game will be the final. That’s what we are aiming for.”

SWABY… at Sporting I couldn’t see the improvement, so I needed to make a change.

Francois Swaby celebrates after scoring the winner for Sporting Central Academy against Boys’ Town earlier this season. (PHOTOS: OSHANE TOBIAS)