A top striker who stood out as a natural leader in his neighbourhood football team as well as for Bermuda also enjoyed a stellar career in the North American Soccer League.

Ralph “Gumbo” Bean played for the Philadelphia Atoms, as did Fred “Pinks“ Lewis, putting them among the select ranks of Bermudians in the US-based league, which featured world-renowned stars such as Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer.

Mr Bean played for Bermuda at youth and senior level, and was an accomplished cricketer — but he was synonymous with North Village Community Club from his heyday as a star footballer in the 1970s and 1980s.

At the height of his powers, it could be accurately said he was responsible for changing the face of club football in this country when making the sensational decision in 1979 to transfer to Portuguese-Bermudian club Vasco da Gama.

As the pioneer of this movement, the doors opened for several other high-profile transfers to Vasco, including his younger brother Mel, who was similarly accomplished at club and national level.

Vasco said in a statement this week: “His willingness to join a local Portuguese club, being a trailblazer and bridge-builder both between and within our respective communities, led him to further encourage several prominent players to join him over said years in what would ultimately become a golden era in the club’s history.”

Mr Bean hailed from a sporting family: his father, Arthur “Bingo” Bean, was a cricketer, while his uncle Cyril “Scratchy” Baxter and brothers Arthur Jr, Raymond Baxter and Mel Bean were all footballers.

He grew up watching matches at the old Box arena in Pembroke.

“It was a big thrill to watch football in those days,” he recalled in a 2006 interview with The Royal Gazette.

“After attending Sunday school at St Monica’s Mission, I would walk out to the Box and watch teams such as Pembroke Juniors play against Dock Hill Rangers.

“Football used to be so exhilarating back then and all the players were fit and very powerful.”

He joined North Village when he was 18 after representing Bermuda at a regional youth tournament in Cuba.

Mr Bean’s career took flight in 1977-78 when Village won the triple crown of league, Friendship Trophy and FA Cup.

Shervin Dill, the longstanding president of North Village, said the club was “deeply saddened at the passing of one of our most outstanding legends”.

“Without question, he was not only a legend at North Village Community Club but for Bermuda.”

He recalled that the multiple Most Valuable Player award winner wore the No 7 jersey, and said Mr Bean was “one of the best strikers the world ever produced; he was world-class”.

Mr Dill said the club, in existence since 1957, was “generational”, with Mr Bean standing out as a “classic example”.

His son, Ralph Jr, is an MVP who also won the triple crown, and his grandson, Jonté, helped the club to the league and cup double this season — and followed the family tradition by also being named MVP.

Mr Dill said the striker was the club’s saviour when it came to averting defeat and “a conqueror when it came to winning matches — whenever we were in trouble, he was the go-to person”.

“What I find remarkable is, despite his greatness, he was always humble and a true team player.”

He said Mr Bean “always gave glory to God” for any accolade.

Mr Dill and his wife, Carol — herself a star of great repute in the sports of netball and softball — were inducted into the North Village Hall of Fame in October 2022 during the club’s 65th anniversary.

Joe L. Brown, a veteran sports commentator and former Bermuda Football Association official as well as Mr Bean’s brother-in-law, described him as an all-rounder locally and internationally.

Mr Brown, who also worked in the sports department at The Royal Gazette, said: “He always was a leader, not in terms of wanting to be a leader — it’s just that his natural skills put him in that position.

“He didn’t look for it; it just found him. Once he got there, he stayed there. People looked up to him and they would look for him out on the field. When he was there, you could depend on him.”

He said Mr Bean coached only at youth level but also stood as an example to his fellow senior players.

Sam “The Cat” Nusum, the North Village goalkeeper during those glory years, also recalled Mr Bean’s dexterity on the pitch.

“In his time, he was one of the best players on the island,” Mr Nusum said.

Both men played in the NASL — Mr Nusum with the New York Cosmos in the illustrious company of Pelé and others, while Mr Bean was with the Atoms.

Mr Nusum recalled that Mr Bean, who joined North Village in the early 1970s, brought a commanding presence to the team.

He added: “He was a good player with a personality that fit in well with everybody. He was a great person to work with, to play with and socialise with. On and off the pitch, he was the same person.”

“Pinks” Lewis remembered being selected for the Atoms with Mr Bean in 1975, with the two becoming room-mates in Philadelphia.

Football with Mr Bean went back to their time as children in the streets of Hamilton and then at The Berkeley Institute.

“He was outgoing and friendly, a comical but loveable guy,” Mr Lewis said.

He remembered how Mr Bean, who had no driver’s licence, had to be driven around Philadelphia and vowed to qualify once he got home.

“We had a good time out there and when it came to playing football, he gave his 100 per cent plus.”

John Tucker, the father of Janeiro Tucker — the esteemed “Mr Cup Match” — was an outstanding two-sport star in his own right.

He moved from Southampton Rangers to join North Village in the late 1960s and was among the established players to welcome Mr Bean into the fold.

Mr Tucker, a national team footballer, cricketer and Somerset Cup Match captain, said Mr Bean was a thrill to watch and play alongside at Village.

He said: “It was exciting and a privilege. A very skilful player who kept the ball very close to his feet. It was very difficult to get the ball away until you committed a foul — and you dare not give Gumbo the opportunity to shoot at the goal.

“He was a very respectful player. I don’t think we have any skilful players like him at this present time.”

Wendell “Joe” Trott, the longtime captain and godfather of Village’s transition to a possession-based, ball-playing team, called Mr Bean “a goalscorer who loved to score goals, locally and internationally — wherever he went, he was the one who ended up with the most goals scored”.

He added “Anytime we were rundown and needed a goal, he would get it.”

Mr Trott recalled North Village and Devonshire Colts both training at Frog Lane when a young Ralph Bean came, gear in hand, to go with the Colts.

“It’s ironic,” he said. “I said, ‘Train with us. If you don’t like it, you can leave.’ And that was history; he never left.”

Cal Dill played at North Village with Mr Bean for “20-plus years” as well as roughly a decade with Bermuda at national level.

“One of the most complete football players I ever had the pleasure of playing with or watching,” Mr Dill said.

He remembered Mr Bean scoring a crucial goal from a 90th-minute penalty that saved North Village from relegation.

“He had nerves of steel — back of the net and that was it,” he said.

“In 1974, we were playing in Santo Domingo against Panama to qualify for the quarter-final of the Central American Caribbean Games. The field was 20 per cent grass, 80 per cent sand.

“For 80 minutes we struggled; in the 89th minute, Gumbo Bean scored a spectacular goal. We won the match.”

Mr Dill said he would be “mesmerised watching him do his magic; he was a genius”.

He added: “I don’t think he ever got a yellow card. He was a gentleman on the field and off.”

Mr Bean and his wife were also stalwarts of the First Church of God in Pembroke.

The Right Reverend Vernon Lambe, Bishop of the First Church of God, where Mr Bean’s memorial service is to be held on Friday, described him as “irreplaceable”.

Bishop Lambe said: “I appointed him head of our deacons and their work he did in a most admirable and, I would say, professional manner. We are so heavily indebted to him for his faithfulness and reliability, and the fact that we could depend on him.

“He was a counsellor. I have a phone system when I am on the air and he would receive calls that came in and would have an opportunity to counsel people from his phone line.

“He would switch from whatever he was doing to whatever was needed.”

Bishop Lambe said Mr Bean would direct parking during major events such as funerals with as many as a thousand people attending.

He and his wife were “key” in assisting with the church’s monthly container imports of discount food items for the needy.

He added: “Plus, he was a prayer partner. My work involves a lot of prayer and he was always there to assist.

“Whatever the hour, he and his wife were there for hospital visitations.”

Bishop Lambe called him “a man not only of faith, but of conviction, and one who has done a lot for the country”.

“I consider myself blessed to be here over these years and see people come, develop and become productive, and become mentors for others to do the same. That was him and his wife.”

Mr Bean’s trademark was to credit the players around him when praised for his skill.

He told the Gazette in 2006: “Everybody would always tell me that I’m good. But I always considered myself as a player who wanted to do his best.

“I just let my performances on the field do all the talking and always tried to do the best for my team.”

Ralph Eugene “Gumbo” Bean, North Village football icon, was born on October 3, 1952. He died on May 21, 2025, aged 72