Marvin Andrews

Marvin Andrews (born December 22, 1975 in San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago) is a professional football (soccer) defender (football) who is currently playing for Raith Rovers F.C. in Scotland, with whom he also started his football career in Scotland.

He has also spent time with fellow Scotland clubs Livingston F.C. and joined Alex McLeish at Rangers in 2004. He was released by Rangers F.C. on 23 July, 2006. Andrews is also a key player for the Trinidad and Tobago national football team.

Overview

Before moving to Scotland, Andrews played for San Juan Jabloteh and Carib F.C] of Trinidad. He made his international debut in 1996, and has made over 100 appearances for T&T in all competitions. Tall, strong and very good in the air, Raith Rovers sold Andrews for around £50,000 in a multi-player deal. Andrews signed for Livingston on the 28th, Sept, 2000. Andrews was voted Raith Rovers' "Player of the Day" in the 1999/2000 season and, also Livingston F.C. "Player of the Year" for the 2003/2004 season.

On the March 14 2004, Marvin Andrews picked up his first major medal when his club team Livingston won the Scottish League Cup by beating Hibernian F.C. 2-0. Andrews signed a two-year deal with Rangers in May 2004 and at the end of his first season with Rangers he scooped the Rangers Player of the Year award, the club also won the Scotland Scottish Premier League title at the end of the 2004/2005 season and he started the now famous Rangers catchphrase Keep Believing. He was released by Rangers at the end of the 2005/2006 season and was a free agent for a short while, before being re-signed by his former club Raith Rovers on October 4 2006.

Religion

A devout Christian, Andrews also practices faith healing at the "Zion Praise Centre International", a church based in Kirkcaldy which is described as being Pentecostal.[Andrews claims his faith was largely inspired by former Livingston teammate Francisco Javier Sánchez Broto.

In the 2004-05 season (his first season with Rangers) he injured the cruciate ligament in his knee while playing. The injury was supposed to keep him off the field for months but Marvin Andrews was only off for one Scottish League Cup match and was back the next week as he believed God would keep him fit, a move which worried medical staff and supporters alike. Andrews' leg and form held up for the rest of the season, which saw his first SPL medal but the same injury eventually caught up with him, ruling him out of Trinidad And Tobago's World Cup 2006 campaign. When Andrews scored for Rangers, or won the Man of the Match at Ibrox Stadium, the song Daydream Believer by The Monkees was played, as it features the lyric "I'm a believer".

In February 2006 he controversially labelled homosexuals as "an abomination" and said, "There is a demon in their spirits, their spirits are ill. But God can help them through his church and anyone who doubts this can check the bible." [tp://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-616.html]