Linvoy Stephen Primus (born 14 September 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Born in Forest Gate, England, to Caribbean-born parents, Primus began his professional career at Charlton Athletic, where he made four league appearances. Primus moved on a free transfer to Barnet and established himself as a first team regular in the lower divisions of English football before earning a £250,000 transfer to Reading.
A Bosman transfer to Portsmouth followed after three successful seasons at the Berkshire-based club. Initially, Primus struggled to break into the team and had his progress hindered by injuries. But the 2002–03 season signaled a change in direction as Primus broke into the first team and won Portsmouth fan's player of the season as well as the PFA Fans' Player of the Year for his division. For the next three seasons Primus was in and out of the first team and worked under three managers: Harry Redknapp, Velimir Zajec and Alain Perrin. The 2006–07 season was the last injury-free season for Primus as a career-threatening knee injury meant he would not make an appearance the following season. Primus went out on loan to former club Charlton and made 10 appearances and one further appearance for Portsmouth before retiring through injury in December 2009. The Milton End stand at Fratton Park was renamed the 'Linvoy Primus Community Stand' because of his outstanding services to the club.
Primus, who is married and has three children, is known for his Christian charity work. He is involved in the Christian charity 'Faith & Football' and walked the Great Wall of China to raise £100,000 for their cause. Other charitable causes he has been involved in are the Alpha course, a cinema advertisement about Christianity and the formation of a prayer group at Portsmouth. In 2007, he released his autobiography, titled Transformed, which details his conversion to Christianity.
Early life Primus was born the first child of Newton and Pauline Primus in Forest Gate Hospital, Forest Gate, Greater London on 14 September 1973. His Jamaican-born mother worked as an orderly at Whipps Cross Hospital in nearby Leytonstone. Primus' father, who was born in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, worked for Thames Water as an engineer. His parents are practising Christians who took Linvoy to church and Sunday school when he was young. In his autobiography he wrote that church was "a cold unwelcoming place" for him as a child but that it "instilled in [him] a very strong sense of right and wrong".
Primus attributed his desire to become a footballer from watching Ricky Villa's winning goal for Tottenham Hotspur against Manchester City in the 1981 FA Cup Final Replay. He played his first game of football two years later in a match between two Cub Scout groups and, because of his performance, he was offered a trial with the Newham District Schools under-11's by one of the Cub Scout leaders who was the manager of the Newham team. Primus was a striker or right winger at this time; in the team was future Portsmouth teammate Sol Campbell who played in midfield.
Football career Early career In Primus' early teenage years he played for his local Sunday league football club, Pretoria, based in Canning Town after being introduced by a school friend. Charlton Athletic arranged a friendly match with Pretoria and Primus was offered the chance to join the Charlton associate schoolboys which he took. For the last two years of his school life, Primus traveled to Greenwich twice a week to train with the team; in addition to this he played matches on a Sunday against the schoolboy teams of clubs such as Maidstone United and Dover Athletic. Primus initially struggled to cope; he cited the "dog eat dog" nature and the "ambitious and aggressive" parents as factors but nevertheless he decided to see it through later remarking that it was a "very strong character building experience".
Charlton Athletic After finishing his GCSEs, where he achieved three A grades, Primus signed a two-year apprenticeship with Charlton. He also received an offer from West Ham United, who were in a higher division, but he rejected this because he felt his first team opportunities would be greater at Charlton. Primus was playing in various positions until the club's youth team coach, Colin Clarke, decided that he should play as a centre back, "I see you as a centre back, that way you can see everything you want in front of you".
Under the Youth Training Scheme, Primus was earning £35 a week while training with the youth and reserve teams as well as having cleaning duties. He had to study Leisure Management at a nearby college which he disliked. Primus, along with Jermaine Darlington, was chosen to travel to Charlton's temporary stadium Selhurst Park to lay out the kits and the boots for the senior players. He admitted this may have earned him "Brownie points" with the youth management. Primus began playing in the reserves under manager Alan Curbishley and, at the end of his apprenticeship, Primus was offered a one-year professional contract by the new youth team coach John Cartwright. Darlington was the only other apprentice who was offered a contract.
Due to injuries to first team centre backs Simon Webster and Darren Pitcher, Primus made his professional debut against Birmingham City. The match took place at their substitute stadium Upton Park in November 1992 and Primus was awarded man of the match for his performance. Primus played the next two matches against Leicester City and Brentford but was disappointed with his performances. Primus made two further first team appearances in the 1992–93 season but soon found himself lower in the pecking order after other players returned from injury and Primus got injured. He felt that he had to leave the club: "I really felt as though I wasn't wanted and that my days were numbered."
Despite this, he signed a one-year extension with the Greenwich-based club. However, he suffered another muscle injury, and with further competition for places in the form of Dean Chandler and Richard Rufus, he failed to make a single appearance for Charlton in the 1993–94 season. He was released at the end of it.
Barnet Primus first rejected a trial with Crewe Alexandra before accepting one with Cardiff City. Just three days before his trial with Cardiff was set to begin Ray Clemence, the Barnet manager, offered Primus a two-year contract with the club. It was later revealed that Clemence was told by his assistant, Terry Harvey, that he should sign him immediately: "Get in now and sign him, if he goes down to Cardiff and sees their stadium he will sign for them." Primus was determined to prove Charlton wrong and says he "grew from a boy to a man" at Barnet. This was also a time when depression was common for Primus, and he became addicted to alcohol and drugs such as ecstasy and LSD.
In the second game of the 1994–95 season against Leyton Orient, Primus made his debut as a substitute coming on for the injured Mark Newson. His next appearance for Barnet, against Scarborough, was described as the "worst performance of [his] career" in his autobiography. He went on to say that he was "weighed down by the burden of expectation" and heard someone say he was the "worst player we've ever had at Barnet". He was often nervous before matches and recited the Lord's Prayer as a way of coping with his anxiety. At the end of the season, Primus was runner-up in the voting for the Player of the Season and was man of the match on several occasions. Barnet had a poor start to the next season and they were at the bottom of the table in mid-September. After beating Northampton Town 2–0, Barnet went on an 11-game winning streak which ended at Colchester United despite Primus scoring a goal. He would go on to score five goals in the season; more than any other season in his career. Once again, he was runner-up in the Player of the Season award, this time to the goalkeeper Maik Taylor.
His third season for the club was an unsettled one. The club went through three different managers after the departure of Clemence: Terry Bullivant (twice), Terry Gibson and Alan Mullery. Nevertheless, Barnet narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference and Primus was awarded the Player of the Season and given the captaincy after a season which saw him make 46 league appearances. After Bullivant left for Reading, however, Primus became unsettled and said "[I was] hankering after a move to join Terry [Bullivant] and Pards [Alan Pardew] at Reading".
Reading Primus was signed for £500,000 at the start of the 1997–98 season although he found himself being sued by the Stellar Sports Agency after the £8,000 fee was not paid because of difficulties with Primus' agent. Joining him in Berkshire was Barnet teammate Lee Hodges. Primus partnered Keith McPherson in defence but Reading started the season poorly with just one point from the first six games despite Primus saying "I played well from the word go". Due to an injury crisis, Reading lost their penultimate league match at Nottingham Forest and were relegated from Division One. This was Primus' first experience of relegation. Earlier in the season Primus had scored his first and what turned out be only Reading goal in the home match against Forest.
In the next season, Reading finished 10th and faced strong competition from new signing Elroy Kromheer, but Primus became disillusioned at the financial situation he was in. He was on £1,500 a week and commented "[new signings were] on twice the wages I was being paid and I had seen the lifestyles they were enjoying". Primus was promised an improved contract, however no such contract was given to him over the summer. By popular demand, manager Tommy Burns was replaced by Alan Pardew. Fitness problems prevented Primus from getting much first team football at the start of the 1999–2000 season until a change of diet helped him regain stamina. As the season progressed, the club offered Primus a new contract which he dismissed as "derisory" saying the club was "taking advantage of [his] good nature".
At the end of the season, Primus was free to leave under the Bosman ruling and received an offer from Luton Town which he accepted. Lennie Lawrence, the manager who bidded for Primus was sacked soon afterwards, however, and the deal was cancelled to the dismay of Primus who said he felt as if "[his] whole world had collapsed". In the aftermath, Pardew put him in contact with Portsmouth manager Tony Pulis and a trial was agreed.
Portsmouth After friendly matches with Dorchester Town and Exeter City, Primus signed a contract with Portsmouth although he was disappointed with the low wages in comparison to other players. He did not get his Portsmouth career off to a good start, scoring an own goal on his debut away at Sheffield United. Pulis was sacked early on in the 2000–01 season after a poor start and was replaced by fans' favourite Steve Claridge. Portsmouth were still near the relegation zone after a poor run of form that also saw Primus being sent off for the first time in his career for a foul on Fulham's Louis Saha. Gilmore's groin ruled him out of action for five months from November of that season, during which Claridge was replaced by Graham Rix, this was after Primus formed a partnership with Jamaican international Darren Moore. After a defeat to Crystal Palace (which Primus described as the "lowest point of [his] career"), Portsmouth needed a victory over Barnsley to stay in Division One and they duly won 3–0 with Huddersfield being relegated after their final day defeat. After the conclusion of the season, Primus fell out with Rix as he was unsure about whether Rix thought he had a future at the club.