Longtime Acreage/Loxahatchee resident Edner Breton was one of five soccer legends recently inducted into the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame during a ceremony held in Huntington, New York.
Aside from Breton, the others inducted with the Class of 2025 on Saturday, March 22 included Lloyd Monsen, Manny Matos, Keith Van Eron and Michelle O’Brien.
Based on Breton’s lengthy affiliation with soccer on Long Island, being inducted into this particular hall of fame was an honor long overdue.
“When I was notified by the president of the hall of fame, he was congratulating me on the honor, while also somewhat apologetic that it took so long for me to be inducted into the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame,” recalled Breton, now 77. “This is truly a dream-come-true experience for me.”
Breton’s illustrious international soccer career spanned nearly five decades as both a player and later as a coach. In 2000, he relocated to South Florida from New York and has been an Acreage resident for nearly 25 years. During that time, he served as the director of coaching for the Wellington Soccer Club from 2001 to 2007 and then served as the club’s youth head coach from 2007 to 2019. He retired from coaching in 2021.
Breton was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and his love for soccer started early. As a young boy, Breton played soccer in his backyard with his six siblings and with other children in his neighborhood. By age 13, Breton was a star player and a member of multiple tournament-winning teams throughout Haiti. At 16, he was recruited by the Racing Club of Haiti, the First Division premier soccer club in Haiti. In 1965 and 1966, he led the Racing Club to back-to-back league championships. At 18, he was selected to represent Haiti’s national team.
It was during this time that his connection to soccer in the United States was developed. In 1968, the Detroit Cougars of the North American Soccer League (NASL) visited Haiti as part of a Caribbean tour. After playing in a match against Breton, the Cougars expressed interest in him joining their team in Detroit. Breton accepted the offer and moved to the U.S.
Breton played with the Detroit Cougars for a short time and continued to represent Haiti on the national scene. He participated in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) competition in 1968 and 1969. Once the competition was over, he came back to the U.S. and played for New York’s Inter-Giuliana Club of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League during the winter seasons.
In 1970, Breton was back playing in the NASL with the Rochester Lancers, which won the championship that year. In 1971, Breton joined the New York Apollo team of the American Soccer League. That was the beginning of his affiliation with soccer on Long Island. He and his wife, Monique, purchased a home in Hempstead on Long Island. While playing with the New York Apollo, he led the club to titles in 1973 and 1978. The team was declared co-champions along with the Boston/Worcester Astros in 1975.
In 1977, Breton was hired by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and worked as a lead ticket agent with the company. His full-time job also gave him the unique opportunity to continue playing soccer, as the airline had an international soccer club called the KLM Bravos, which competed globally. Breton served as captain of the Bravos, which won multiple tournaments throughout Europe and South America during the 1980s.
As a player, one of the highlights of his career was playing in a match in Rochester in the early 1970s against Santos, one of the great clubs from Brazil, which was led by global superstar Pelé.
“Santos won the game, but it was a privilege to be on the same playing field as Pelé,” Breton recalled. “He was a brilliant player.”
In the 1990s, Breton began transitioning into a career as a coach and began seeking opportunities in the New York area where he could help cultivate young soccer talent. As a resident of Long Island for more than 20 years, Breton immersed himself in the local soccer landscape. He became trainer of the Levittown Blue Angels U-12 girls team of the Long Island Junior Soccer League, which captured the 1998 league title. He also served as trainer for the Levittown Cosmos U-15 boys team. Additionally, Breton was head coach of the John Jay College men’s soccer team in Manhattan.
When Breton retired from his full-time job with KLM in 2000, he and his wife relocated to Palm Beach County. Given his background in soccer, it was foreseeable that Breton would land an opportunity with a local soccer program, which became a reality when he started his affiliation with the Wellington Soccer Club.
Although Breton has stepped away from the soccer spotlight, it remains a big part of his life. He enjoys watching the game on television or in person, and he doesn’t rule out a return to local coaching in some capacity.
“Once a coach, always a coach,” Breton said.
He and Monique have three daughters — Rachel, Regine and Melissa — and four grandsons. While none of Breton’s three daughters played soccer, they enjoyed supporting their father’s role in soccer as a player and coach.
“Our memories growing up include being on the sidelines of soccer games wherever my dad was playing or coaching, and this is where we learned about sportsmanship, discipline, competitiveness and integrity,” Rachel said. “Looking back now, I see the value in those important life lessons that were being taught to us as we cheered my dad on.”
