MARTYN CLARKE: THE FALKLAND ISLANDER WHO ALMOST JOINED BOCA JUNIORS IN 1999

The young man had been invited to a three-week residential trial at Boca Juniors, where one or two graduates from a pool of 95 would be offered a permanent berth in the junior setup, so his chances were bleak at best. His sporting credentials were almost secondary to the significance of his move; whereas most young hopefuls are tested for mental aptitude and resourcefulness, Clarke was whisked away to watch a match between Boca and Independiente in Maradona's VIP box upon his arrival in the Argentine capital. Martyn Clarke, unlike the other trialists, was a Falkland Islander, or Malvinense as the people call him.

According to his own admission, he was shaking with fear on the flight over to Argentina, anticipating the unpleasant welcome he expected. Since the 1982 struggle, which cost the lives of 649 Argentines, no natural inhabitant of the Falkland Islands had even resided in Argentina, let alone visited the heart of the intensely devoted church of La Bombonera, so his fear was understandable. LAN Chile had blocked the archipelago's only commercial route a few months before in protest to former dictator Augusto Pinochet's detention in London, and Argentine citizens had been barred from accessing Falkland territory since the conflict, so access to the population was limited.

Isolation has always been a feature in the Falkland Islands, with little contact in either direction. Throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the island served as a vital outpost for Spanish, British, and French sailors. However, the island's somewhat harsh climate and remote location meant that by the early 19th century, the total population on the island was believed to be 40.

Because no radio signals from the mainland were strong enough to be picked up in the aftermath of WWII, the local authorities did not authorize the use of resources for what was one of the main forms of amusement in families around the world.

Direct communication ties were not established until Guglielmo Marconi, the creator of the radio, constructed a wireless telegraphy station on the islands in 1911.

By the late 1930s, the only print media on the island was a weekly church newsletter that covered local whist drives, shooting competitions, and satirical cartoons about Nazi Germany's Ersatz program, which claimed that German housewives were forced to use reconstituted fish byproducts as eggs, wood shavings for sugar, and baby shoes for slippers.

The scars of the Falkland War were still raw toward the end of the twentieth century. Argentina's then-president, Carlos Menem, reasserted his country's claims to the Islands a year before Clarke's trial in late 1999, but it wasn't until July of that year that his compatriots were granted unlimited access. When the first group arrived in August, their bus was halted by 200 protestors opposed to increased ties with South Americans. Relations between Argentina and the Falkland Islands were gradually thawing after air connections were restored in October, but they were far from amicable.

Argentina's political relationship with the Falkland Islands remains tense. There has been an attempt to prohibit Falkland ships from entering South American ports, legislation threatening enterprises attempting to do business between the two countries have been passed, and charter flights have been prohibited, all of which have a significant impact on the fishing and tourism economies. The former accounts for more than half of the Falkland Islands economy.

He had persuaded Diego Maradona, whom he had known since the 1980s from working in a Buenos Aires hotel, to talk at the Oxford Union while studying international relations in England, and his connections would be vital in arranging Clarke's visit.

After seeing the teenage Clarke in a league match, he met Maradona's wife Claudia, then Boca Juniors president Mauricio Macri, who agreed to set up the initial trial.

Initially, his tenure at the La Casa Amarilla training center was marked by a difficult atmosphere. His failure to speak directly in their home tongue with his fellow trainees and coaches was exacerbated by early ostracism in training, not to mention an alarming discrepancy in physical and tactical condition between the native kids and the newcomer. He failed to make an early impact after being treated rudely during training drills.

Argentina's passion with football requires no introduction, but on the Falkland Islands, the carnival of Latin culture and lifestyle paints a different picture. The location limits the league system, which had just five clubs at the time of Clarke's trial, to a strictly seasonal playing calendar, meaning he arrived having not played any type of competitive football for six months. Despite being only as far south as Oxford is north, the Falkland Islands are closer to mainland Antarctica than Buenos Aires.

He was keen to prove his worth at La Casa Amarilla, however, and was granted a four-week extension. While making three appearances for the reserve side, his confidence developed to the point where he would mock the map in the changing rooms that depicted his nation as Islas Malvinas.

Despite not knowing a word of Spanish and being born in England, he was warmly greeted by a populace eager to claim a piece of Las Malvinas as their own. There is little question that being publicly greeted by their spiritual hero swayed opinion, and the political capital gained by clasping a son of the Falkland Islands to their heart was crucial.

It must have been difficult for the young man to be thrust into the center of such a heated political argument, especially when his own father served in the fight with the British Marines. However, there was no frenzied clamour to demand an acknowledgment of guilt on behalf of his country of birth, as he had expected.

Whatever happens to football in the Falkland Islands, Martyn Clarke's experience in the lion's den with a footballing deity will be remembered. He may not have reached his extremely ambitious objective of signing a full-time contract with Boca Juniors, and his path is unlikely to be repeated. Few people, especially Falkland Islanders, can claim to have sat with Argentina's favorite son and enjoyed his celebrity for a brief period.