Keith Aqui

Who is Keith Aqui?

Keith Aqui was a Trinidad association football forward who played professionally in the American Soccer League and the North American Soccer League. He earned an unknown number of caps with the Trinidad and Tobago national football team.

From 1965 to 1967, Aqui attended Mausica Teachers College in Trinidad. He then entered Howard University, where he played on the men’s soccer team from 1970 to 1972. He was a 1970 second team All American and a 1971 first team All American. In 1971, Aqui and his team mates won the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. He was inducted into the Howard University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. Aqui became a central part of a Howard University lawsuit against the NCAA when the NCAA declared him retroactively ineligible after the 1971 college soccer season based on his attendance at Mausica. As a result, the NCAA voided Howard’s 1971 NCAA championship. Howard sued the NCAA, but the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the NCAA.

In February 1973, the Dallas Tornado selected Aqui in the first round of the North American Soccer League draft. The Tornado released him in the pre-season and he joined the Baltimore Bays of the American Soccer League. In 1974, Aqui signed with the Baltimore Comets of the North American Soccer League. In 1976, the Comets moved to San Diego where the team was renamed the San Diego Jaws. Aqui played an unknown number of games with the Trinidad and Tobago national football team during the 1970s.