After six decades together, a Pembroke couple say their ability to find compromise is the bond which has kept them together.

John and Muriel Roach, who celebrated 60 years of marital bliss last month, said their ability to navigate life’s highs and lows — such as a flooding incident at their home in 2014 — has been the backbone of their marriage.

Mr Roach’s sterling career as one of the island’s celebrated football strikers, in which he received pivotal support from Mrs Roach, also taught them to be disciplined and humble, the Perimeter Lane residents said.

The couple courted for several years before they tied the knot in July 1965 and Mr Roach recalled their first date like it was yesterday.

He said: “We were introduced by a mutual friend, one of my buddies.

“He was going on a date with his lady friend and since we were fairly close, he said ‘we got to find you somebody’.”

Mrs Roach, 82, lived on Angle Street in Hamilton, not far from Mr Roach’s home, where the couple live today at Perimeter Lane.

Mr Roach, 85, said: “The next thing I knew, I was knocking at her door and then we went out — and it has been fruitful ever since.”

Their first date was a visit to the theatre. Mr Roach said her husband would take her out on his motorcycle, on occasions borrowing his sister’s car.

Traffic was light in Hamilton in those days, with few cars on the road.

Mr Roach recalled: “At the time, cycles were considered cheap and to have a car was expensive to us, so there were many motorcycles.”

The Roaches said they always keep cognisant of current affairs.

Although they did not pay much attention to politics during their early years, they stayed aware of who the political leaders were and the main issues affecting life on the island.

Mr Roach said: “Around that time, we had the issue of segregation where we couldn’t go to parts of the theatre and then there was the boycott.”

The 1959 Theatre Boycott — in which Black residents refused to attend cinemas, restaurants and hotels in protest of racial segregation — was a watershed moment in the breakdown of racial barriers.

Mr Roach worked two jobs back then, one of which was as a theatre attendant.

“When you bought your ticket, you knew where you were going. We had to go upstairs because of who we were,” Mr Roach recalled.

He was a standout striker for the Young Men’s Social Club football team, the island’s top performing team. His wife said she admired his performances on the pitch.

“He was the No 10, the striker at the front,” Mrs Roach said.

Mr Roach added: “I was the main man and I would say ‘get the ball to me’, and I would run down the flank and cut through the defence.”

Although he never got represent Bermuda abroad, he was a pivotal player against visiting teams.

Mr Roach noted that his ability to break through opposing teams defences “was mainly home-grown talent”.

He said much had changed since, including discipline within the sport.

He added: “The mentality of the young people nowadays is just not the same.

“We were tutored by some older people, and the club president made sure we were a disciplined bunch.

“For instance, we could go in the club, but we were never made to enter the bar, so they really nurtured us to a stage where we played First Division.”

YMSC, then known as the Dream Team, were league champions for five years.

The team went undefeated for three consecutive years and Mr Roach received a plaque celebrating the feat.

As the talisman of the squad, he had many nicknames which the couple laughingly chose not to mention.

“There was a name they gave him because he was a good striker,” Mrs Roach said.

Mr Roach also played cricket and was once invited to play for Somerset Cricket Club, but said his heart was closer to the football pitch.

Their union produced three children.

Today the couple spend much of their time relaxing at home. They travel to the US to visit children and grandchildren.

Mr Roach said he keeps in shape as he attend to errands around the home.

Ten years ago the property was inundated after a retaining wall collapsed on Palmetto Road.

Water accumulated in roadside holding tanks until the structure gave way.

Mrs Roach recalled: “It was continuous rain and it was four in the morning when it exploded. It sounded like everything was coming down on the house.”

A section of their home flooded. The Government assisted them in relocating for a year until the situation was rectified — although Mr Roach said the upper road still floods and its drains fill with sand, requiring regular attention.

The couple said they had adapted to technology and the cost of living over the years.

Both are proud of their Caribbean roots: Mr Roach said his parents hailed from St Kitts & Nevis while his wife, whose parents come from Jamaica, called the Caribbean her “second home”.