Dennis Hutchinson, Lenworth Hyde, Paulette Riley and Frankie Lewis will be honoured at the 32nd staging of the Bell/Ziadie Memorial football matches at Winchester Park, St George’s College on Heroes’ Day.

Hutchinson, Hyde and Lewis are former national players, while Riley is the first female to be designated a FIFA Assistant Referee.

Only Hutchinson was at the launch at the Alhambra Inn yesterday and he was elated to be recognised.

“I am honoured, really honoured. I think this should be something coming from the national federation but hindsight is 20/20 and ‘Busy’ (Clive Campbell) saw it necessary and even though it came about as a result of Dennis Ziadie and Jackie Bell’s demise, I am grateful,” said Hutchinson.

Hutchinson is possibly the only player to win both the Manning Cup and daCosta Cup football competitions as a player for Tivoli Gardens and Clarendon College in 1976 and 1977.

“The exploits that other footballers have done over the years are almost invisible to some people but now it’s more visible with this movement going on,” he noted.

Event coordinator Campbell said four teams will be in action this year in Entertainers and Masters, St George’s College Old Boys, Christian Ambassador and for the very first time, the Special Olympics football team that placed second at the Special Olympics football competition.

The event is in honour of two of Jamaica’s top coaches — Dennis Ziadie and Jackie Bell, who died in a motor vehicle accident in Mexico at the 1986 World Cup.

Ziadie played for St George’s College, Santos Football Club in the 1970s and ’80s and on the St George’s College Old Boys’ team, and later represented Jamaica. Similarly, Bell played for St George’s College, St George’s College Old Boys’ football team and later coached Santos, while Ziadie was a player.

Ever since their deaths, Campbell, a Santos player at the time, has organised these football games in their memories and has used the proceeds to aid a number of basic schools.

Lorna Bell, widow of Jackie Bell, thanked Campbell for keeping the memories of “these two great men” alive.

Bell, who is the executive director of Special Olympics Jamaica, was also happy that her Special Olympics Football team was invited to participate.

“Folks, they have earned it. This team that will be playing recently returned from Chicago where they participated in the first Special Olympics competition defeating countries like China, Italy and losing 0-1 to France, so they are coming too for bragging rights as they prepare for the 2019 World Summer Games,” said Bell.

Once again a number of entertainers will be on show, such as Chris Martin, Wayne Marshall, Tony Curtis, No-Maddz, along with athletics star Germaine Gonzales, footballers Jah Mikes, Kevin “Pele” Wilson, Cornel Chin-Sue and Denton Shedden who will be on the Masters and Celebrities teams.

Glenroy Brown, president of the St George’s Sports Council Association, was on hand to give support while noting that if Jackie Bell and Dennis Ziadie were here, Jamaica’s football would be at a higher level.

“It’s important for us to have this competition at St George’s College simply because I knew what Dennis Ziadie went through in terms of establishing our field…picking up the stones, and he believed great football can only be played on good fields and we have one of the best fields in the country,” said Brown, who will be playing on the St George’s Old Boys’ team.