TUCKER, St James — Every time he steps on the field, Montego Bay United’s midfielder and captain Dwayne Ambusley is keenly aware of the gap between him and the other players on his team and those he will be facing.

Watching the 35-year-old run around the field, game after game, season after season, very rarely being outmatched, would lead one to think he is 10 years younger than he really is, until he reminds you he played daCosta Cup football for Rusea’s High School in 1996 and one season in the now long defunct National A League for Legend FC of Hanover a year later.

“A lot of people would not believe it if I told them I played in the A-League,” Ambusley told the Jamaica Observer last week.

“Some of them don’t even know what the A-League is,” he said of the competition that was a buffer between the Confederation Leagues and the Premier League.

“Hazard United (now Portmore United) was one of the big clubs then,” he said. “When I look around the league today I don’t see many players who were playing then, ‘Tuffy’ Anderson, maybe, and we had a lot of battles in the Confed Super League.”

The Hanover native is the last remaining link between Montego Bay United and Seba United, the club’s original name before they changed it five seasons ago when they earned promotion to the Premier League after Kemiro James was left off the team list this season.

Before playing for Seba United, Ambusley spent five seasons with Mt Pelier in the Western Confederation Super League, going to the final twice, losing both, once to Granville United and the other to Negril FC.

The secret to his longevity, he told the Observer, is that he takes care of himself. “It’s more of body management; make sure you are properly rehydrated; get your rest; training properly and stay away from bad habits like alcohol, eat right.”

Despite the age difference, he says he is still able to communicate well with the players on the Montego Bay United team. “Surprisingly the players give me a lot of respect,” he said. “They respond to me well as the leader, even though they are not from my era, but they are willing to learn, we mesh well, I can call them any time off the field and on the field. I always try to motivate them and keep them focused and to get the best out of them.”

While he is enjoying his football, playing in two successive Red Stripe Premier League finals, winning one and his team off to a fast start and leading the standings so far, Ambusley knows it won’t last forever and understands he is only human.

“The way I play football, I can for a long time, but there has to be adjustments,” he said. “I might have to do more game management and pay less games and get rest where I can, but realistically I think I have another season at this level.”