Former National football stalwart and educator Granton Inniss has died

Apr 02, 2024 Sports

By Samuel Whyte

Kaieteur Sports – Those in the education sector and the Sports arena especially in the football sphere are mourning the loss of former national soccer star Granton “Sillo” Inniss.

Former Teacher and National Football Granton ‘Silo’ Inniss

Inniss, who hails from the Savannah Park area, New Amsterdam, Berbice, died a few weeks ago in New York, United States of America following a period of illness.

Inniss, a national footballer, who made his name in the forward position, was also a well-known school teacher in Guyana.

He started his football career early on the grounds of Berbice where he and his brother were among others who dominated the game in the ancient county some years back.

Inniss, who hailed from The Savannah Park area, started his football career playing with the popular Cougars football Club which was one of the top clubs in Guyana at the time. He went on to play for Berbice and subsequently Guyana which he did at various age levels before representing the senior national team on numerous occasions.

Inniss was a stalwart in his heydays. As a striker he played attacking football and was a menace to the defence as he dazzled his opponents and fans with his speed and skill on numerous occasions on the football field.

He was a part of the Berbice and Guyana teams at a time when both the county and Country football were at its best.

Berbice was a force to be reckoned with at that time, as Inniss plied his trade along with his brothers and others, a number of whom played on many national teams, the likes of the Humphrey’s, Alphonso’s, and Samuels’s brothers. Other fellow nationals like the Ford’s, Bowry, Jones, Chalmers, Kenneth Price and the late Rickford Belgrave and James Paul among others.

He was a prominent member of the Guyana team during the 1970s.

According to information he was part of the Guyana Squad in 1974 at the Inter Guiana Games. He however first represented Guyana in 1975 at the Inter Guiana games football series in Georgetown. That team was captained by fellow Berbician and Cougars star player Oral Samuels.

Inniss made his senior international debut against Cuba national under 23 team at the GFC ground in December 1977. He continued to represent Guyana where he played in 1978. He was also selected in the national under23 team that was selected to engage the touring Kwangtung Province football team from China.

Inniss subsequently migrated overseas where he continued to ply his trade in the Education sector and as a footballer.

He played alongside former national stalwarts the likes of – Keith Niles, Vibert Butts, Terrence Nichols, Walter Prince, Earl O’Neal, Maurice Enmore, Patrick Barton, Aubrey Hudson, Vibert DeFreitas, Orin Nedd, Gordon Brathwaite, Wendell Sandiford, Bunny Anthony, Denzil Thompson, Oral Samuels, Kenneth Price, Marlon DeSouza, Clive Perry, Dennis Solomon, David Woodford, Keith Humphrey, Leonard Williams, Keith Smart, Lloyd Enmore, Rickford Belgrave, Joseph Alberts, Roger Alphonso, Kenneth Solomon and Trevor Gibbs, among others.

Inniss was also a coach in the school and national system.

Kaieteur News joins the rest of Guyana, especially those in the teaching and sports fraternity more so football lovers, in expressing sympathy to the relatives and friends of the late football stalwart Granton “Silo” Inniss.

He was interned in Brooklyn, USA a week ago.

Aubrey Hudson, Earl O'Neal, Maurice Enmore, Patrick Barton, Vibert Butts, Vibert DeFreitas

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