When Pelé met Ian Goodison
Back in the day, when I shared random Tranmere arcana via the Planet Prentonia Twitter page, I stumbled upon an obscure photo of Rovers icon Ian Goodison, clad in the yellow jersey of his native Jamaica, sharing an embrace with Pelé.
Young, naïve and cheeky, I posted it with a pithy caption: “The greatest player who ever lived. And Pelé.”
The image went viral.
In truth, however, I knew very little about the photo and its origins. I assumed it was related to the 1998 World Cup, for which Jamaica famously qualified. Pelé probably attended one of their games, I surmised, cajoled by sponsors or the shadowy FIFA cabal. I occasionally revisited the photo, but only recently managed to decode its genesis.
The first clue came from the Kappa Jamaica shirt worn by Goodison. Football Shirt Archive and assorted World Cup photos date that strip to 1998, confirming my original hunch, but I could find no explicit link between Pelé and the Reggae Boyz during the tournament. Pelé did work as a corporate figurehead at that World Cup – for Mastercard – but if he encountered Jamaica there, it was never reported.
Pelé was no stranger to the Caribbean island, however. In fact, Edson Arantes do Nascimento had strong ties to the country, having visited multiple times in the 1970s on promotional tours, often playing exhibition games in the process. Pelé even met Michael Manley, the Jamaican prime minister, in 1975, affirming a warm relationship.
That relationship was leveraged by René Simões, the Brazilian coach of Jamaica’s national team, during preparations for the ‘98 World Cup. As retold by Dr Chandi Jayawardena, general manager of the Pegasus hotel in Kingston, Simões invited Pelé to the Jamaican capital to motivate his players. The Pegasus sponsored a ‘Road to France’ promotional campaign coordinated by the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF), and Jayawardena was told to prepare for Pelé’s arrival.
“On May 8, 1998, I was waiting by the front entrance of Pegasus to welcome Pelé,” wrote Jayawardena in his excellence 2023 reminiscence. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that he was very busy at that time working as a football pundit on TV and serving as the Minister for Sports in Brazil. My approach was to be very formal, respectful and professional. On their arrival at the hotel, Captain Horace Burrell, president of the JFF, introduced me to Pelé.”
According to Jayawardena, Pelé stayed at the Pegasus for two nights – 8 and 9 May, 1998. A day later – 10 May 1998 – Jamaica played Santos, Pelé’s former club, in a prestige friendly. Pelé attended the match, according to the Jamaica-Gleaner newspaper, while an honorary plaque presented by Santos – engraved with the date, location and Pelé’s name – was later auctioned online.
Before the game, Pelé was introduced to both sets of players on the field. Wearing a dark blazer, Pelé shook hands and posed for photos in an emphatic procession. That same blazer is featured in Goodison’s famous photo, which may have been taken during the pre-match ceremony.
Alternatively, the photo may have been snapped after the match. Why?
Well, because Jamaica won the game, 3-2, and Ian Goodison scored the winner! Pelé may have watched the match, then met Goodison – the winning goal hero – in a post-match maelstrom. Hence the rather chaotic scene, with security guards marshalling the hubbub and Goodison holding a sports drink, perhaps en route to the dressing room.
Regardless, Goodison was not the only future Tranmere star to feature – and impress – that day. Paul Hall scored the equaliser for Jamaica, while Theo Whitmore also played – in midfield, rather than in goal. Perhaps Pelé was a covert Tranmere scout, in hindsight. It would seem to explain a lot.
Presciently, Pat Nevin, another Tranmere maverick, also met Pelé – two years before any of the Reggae Boyz. Nevin was the PFA players’ chairman, and he sat next to the great man at an awards dinner. Pat even had Pelé sign his placemat, and Johnny King probably suggested scanning it onto a Tranmere contract.
Six weeks after beating Santos, Jamaica travelled to the World Cup, where they finished third in a group dominated by Argentina and Croatia. The Reggae Boyz beat Japan in their final game, with Whitmore notching a brace, and their effervescence illuminated the tournament.
Goodison and Whitmore subsequently ventured to Hull City, then returned to the English game in 2004, when former Tigers boss Brian Little brought them to Tranmere. Goodison was 31 when making his Rovers debut, but still managed to stick around for over a decade, make more than 400 appearances, and earn cult hero status.
Pelé did not turn up for Goody’s testimonial in 2015, but The Photo appeared in the programme. Perhaps a copy found its way to old Edson, kept for posterity among his trinkets. After all, Pelé met a lot of people in his 82 years, but few – if any – were like Ian De Souza Goodison. Real recognise real, as they say, from Brazil to Birkenhead.