Football supporters and the community at large have been urged to take up the distinctive boots designed by the late PHC captain Marco Warren to make their voices heard as the national team fight for a spot in the World Cup.

Desmond Crockwell, a community activist, said Bermuda was on the verge of potentially earning a place in the biggest tournament in football — and that Mr Warren, his nephew, would have been a part of the squad had he been alive.

Mr Crockwell noted that sports fans in other countries had adopted various “instruments of intimidation”, such as the plastic vuvuzela trumpets that got blasted by the crowd in a show of national pride during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

He said: “What we are hoping people do is that people purchase Marco’s boots and let them be our symbol and our instrument of intimidation, so that when we go to the games, we can start slamming our boots together, we can start banging them on the benches and we can let people know that when we come in there, there is a sea of pink-and-blue boots around.”

Mr Crockwell said that he hopes to see the island rally around the squad and help to bring the late footballer’s vision into a reality.

“We want to inspire others to take on the mantle and the efforts of Marco Warren and let’s push each other to be better, not just on the field but off the field as well,” Mr Crockwell said.

Mr Warren, a three-times Premier Division MVP, was an influential and highly respected captain of the PHC team when he died two years ago at age 29.

At the time he was fostering his love of design with the creation of a boot.

While a prototype had been made before his passing, his sister, Chelsea, took up the banner to complete the design and make the blue-and-pink boots available for purchase.

Dwight Warren, Marco Warren’s father, described his son as a “spiritual warrior” in the interview online hosted by Mr Crockwell.

“I always like to revert to the Bible because he reminded me of David,” he said.

“He had the kind of spirit of David. Whatever Goliath that came his way, he accepted the challenge.”

Mr Warren said that his son was spiritually grounded from a young age, always listening and learning, with a community of family and friends who supported him.

“Marco always said it takes a village to raise children, particularly if you want to raise them in the right direction,” he added.

Mr Warren said it was difficult to talk about his son because of all of the emotions it stirred up, but said: “It’s healing for me, because I am very proud of Marco.

“He accomplished things that I had never thought and he reached a lot of people, just through his character.”