Europa will be hoping that their teen signing from Lincoln Red Imps could be the secret weapon in the fight against last season’s champions.
TJay De Barr hopes to improve his overall game after letting in an own goal in the Pepe Reyes Cup and believes he is on the right side after his new club won the season curtainraiser on penalties.
“Playing against Lincoln is weird for me,” said TJay de Barr, the Gibraltar international midfielder who signed for Europa in the summer from the League Champions. “Considering I’ve been part of that club since I first started playing football, I always want the best for them. However, whenever we meet them I’ll want the best for Europa and that’s a win. This is all I will be thinking about.”
After being brought through the youth system at Lincoln it was always going to be difficult to swap sides to the main rival. The departure of Julio Ribas with whom De Barr seemed to have a good relationship could have made that decision easier. Then the new HGP rule expanded to three players on the pitch at all times giving him a greater chance of featuring week in, week out elsewhere.
“It was very hard decision for me personally,” continued De Barr. “When you’ve been at a club for so long it’s not easy to leave. I had to take some time to think about it and I made the decision that it was time for a change and Europa looked to be the best place for me.”
