New St Johnstone full-back Andre Raymond has revealed that his winding career path to Perth took in two days spent in JAIL.
The Trinidad and Tobago international was closing in on a big move to Portugese top flight side, SC Braga, having embarked on a tour of Europe with an academy team.
However, he discovered the hard way that he had spent too long in the country without the necessary bureaucratic boxes being ticked and the zero tolerance consequence before deportation was a short stay in prison.
The experience killed Raymond’s chance of a transfer to Braga but didn’t kill his football dream.
And the 23-year-old has now made his competitive debut for Saints, giving McDiarmid Park fans a taste of the all-action style he hopes will make him a Scottish Premiership hit.
“I was at university in America and did one semester,” Raymond recalled.
“While I was at home my friend was going with an academy team to Spain.
“I was dropping him at the airport and the coach of his team asked me what I was doing, why I wasn’t playing football and going with them.
“He wanted me to go with them.
“He spoke to my dad about it but my mum was saying: ‘No way, you have to go back to school’.
“In the end he managed to persuade them and a few days later I joined them in Spain to play a tournament.
“After that we went to Portugal and I ended up with Braga but then some stuff happened – I got arrested!
“Because we’d been away from home for so long, I ended up staying for four months instead of three.
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