Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroudes

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Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroudes

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I collapsed when Leventis crashed out of Africa in 1987 – Mastoroudes

Defunct Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroudes, who clocked 70 recently, spoke to journalists on how he built one of Nigeria’s greatest sides, his Greek-Nigerian connection, MKO Abiola and more. ’TANA AIYEJINA was there

Congratulations on your 70th birthday. How does it feel to be 70?

I think I have been a very fortunate person. Therefore, it is a blessing for me that I have reached this age. And for the experience I have had over these years, I can only thank God for allowing me to stay this long.

You are a Greek born in Nigeria…

(Cuts in) My father came to Nigeria in 1931. He started as a young boy here working his way up. Eventually, when Leventis started in 1945, he was one of the first employees to join the group. And since then, he was a Leventis man and he died a Leventis man. I was born in Nigeria and I’m proud to say that I was born here. I was born at Awolowo Road, Onikan in Lagos, at the then Creek Hospital, now Military Hospital. When I was three or four, when the Western Government was in Ibadan, my father went there (Ibadan) as a Leventis agent. So, I grew up in Ibadan. I had my elementary education at the University of Ibadan Staff School before I travelled overseas to further my studies.

So, we can call you a son of the soil here?

As a matter of fact, the only thing that is missing is my tribal marks. I do feel very much at home and I have upheld the Nigerian flag many times around the world.

Leventis United FC of Ibadan brought you to limelight. How did you get involved?

When we started Carpet Royal, it was up and doing and making profit. It was so easy and I was getting bored. I have a great passion for football, so I decided to organise people who were working in the factory to start playing football. It started as a joke, I followed Nigerian football and slowly, I thought I could really create a team here. At that time, Leventis Group had two other teams; IddoTigers, Lagos and Sanyo FC, Ibadan. So, I told Mr. Leventis that I wanted a team out of the three teams to be called Leventis United. And he gave me the go-ahead. We joined Ibadan local league, which we won and got promoted to the first division. We had to play qualifiers to enter the national third division. By then, it was becoming serious and I started thinking of how to do a good job. There was IICC Shooting Stars, I was one of their supporters and I was scared to antagonise them. I don’t think there was any team that had more faithful supporters than IICC then. Stationery Stores also had some loyal supporters but they were more rowdy. Ibadan had a different kind of support, it was like a religion. So, I decided to take people from IICC, so it looked like IICC were giving birth to another child. I was also very fortunate that Chief Lekan Salami’s father and my father were close friends, so my father called Salami and told him, ‘Look, protect my son.’ As a matter of fact, the relationship I had with Salami was amazing. He made it possible for Leventis to grow in Ibadan because he saw that we were genuine, that we were not trying to diminish IICC. In fact, many times, we withdrew from the Challenge Cup for IICC to go forward. Many times I got into problems with IICC but Salami managed to resolve the issues. I got very friendly with the chief supporters of IICC, Chief Olotu and Baba Eleran. These two guys also did not like Leventis United but they could not say it to my face and they did not make it difficult for us.

After qualifying to represent Oyo State in the National League, you went on to win the third, second and first divisions in successive years. How did you do it?

When we qualified to play in the third division, I realised that the game had become serious. I knew if you wanted a good team, you needed a good spine, the goalkeeper, centre-half, midfielder and striker. These four are very important and I looked desperately for them. The first person that came to my mind was Abdullahi Alausa, my centre-half. I asked him if he knew any good goalkeeper and he mentioned Edward Ansah, who was with Railway in Lagos. Edward joined us, followed by George Hassan (Team manager), Bunmi Adigun and Wole Odegbami but that was not my spine yet. I called Hassan, who played a very important role in the formation of Leventis United, and told him I wanted a good centre-half; a midfielder and a striker, and he went straight away to Bendel Insurance in Benin. He got me Leotis Boateng and Matthew Onyeama. So, in the third division, my first team were Edward Ansah in goal; in defence, John Benson, Abdullahi Alausa, Leotis Boateng and Andrew Uwe; in the midfield, Matthew Onyeama and Bunmi Adigun; forwards, Wole Odegbami, Sunday Daniel, Bala Ali and James Etokebe. Five years later, this was essentially the same team that finished with Leventis United with the exception of two players that managed to penetrate the first team; Friday Ekpo and Uwem Ekarika. Any great team must have two good full-backs; they defend, support the midfield and also join in attack. So, I transformed two players, Benson and Alausa into those roles. When we were in the third division in 1984, we won the division undefeated; we won the Challenge Cup as well as the Champion of Champions Cup by beating Rangers. That was a feat that shook the foundation of Nigerian football. And everywhere we went, people came to watch because they wanted to see good football. In the second division in 1985, we won it comfortably likewise the first division in 1986. We also won the FA Cup for the second time. After the first year that we won in the first division, problems started in the club. Some of the directors at Leventis said, ‘why is John taking all the glory?’ And they brought in more people to run it, and I got a little bit upset because I didn’t like it. The cost of the team was more than what was budgeted for but one thing they failed to realise was the kind of publicity it gave to the group. I had given my all; we were champions every year for four years during which we rarely tasted defeat.

What was the experience like when the club played in Africa?

The first time we played in the final (of the African Cup Winners Cup in 1985) against Al Ahly of Egypt, we lost the first leg 2-0 away under very terrible conditions. In the return leg in Lagos, we won 1-0 but unfortunately that wasn’t enough. I felt we could win the African Champions Cup in 1987. In the quarter-finals, we went to Sudan to play El Hilal and we lost 1-0, and I thought we could recover because they were not a good side. But as Jose Mourinho says, they packed buses in front of goal in the second leg. Our boys tried but they could not get a goal. It became so difficult, so stressful and I was so disappointed at the end because my biggest dream was to win the African Champions Cup but unfortunately, it was not meant to be. I actually passed out and had to be resuscitated.

Did juju have any impact on Leventis’ success?

Well, in Ibadan, they call it ‘balubalu.’ There is no ‘babalawo’ in that area that did not come to meet us. Of course, I did not believe in all that but my players did. So, George, (coach) Jossy Lad and the rest will entertain them when they see them. All I had to do was to give them some money to go back home. I don’t believe in juju. But what I know is that our team was so disciplined on the field. The salary was not much but where they made a lot of money was from bonuses.

Then, Friday Ekpo was Abiola Babes’ captain and they had the money to keep their players. How did you get him from there?

My first meeting with Chief MKO Abiola was at a meeting of club owners. When we met, he said ‘I don’t like you but I respect you.’ By that time, we had beaten his team many times. I told him, ‘Chief, if you get to know me, you will like me.’ Our friendship grew to the extent that I haven’t met anybody in my life that is as charismatic as Abiola. It was fun to be around him. I loved him dearly. Actually, Abiola gave my team money for beating Abiola Babes; he taught me how to behave in defeat. But he had a coach called Yakubu, who wanted my players. We had an agreement not to touch each other’s players, but Yakubu took four players of mine and gave them money to play for Abiola Babes. I wished them well but 20 minutes later, their leader Bunmi Adigun came back and said that they didn’t want to go again. So, I told him that if they wanted to remain in my team, they had to return the money they collected from Yakubu. And Hassan went with them to Abeokuta and they returned all the money. Then, I said since Abiola Babes tried to take my players, I wanted Friday Ekpo, their captain. Hassan went to Ekpo and brought him. I asked him if he was ready to play for me and he agreed. Friday was a great player; he fortified Leventis’ midfield. That was how I got him.

There was also rumour that Etim Esin wanted to play for Leventis at a point…

Etim is the biggest talent Nigeria ever produced. He was so amazing but unfortunately he let himself down. He was such a great footballer but very cocky. One day he came to my office and said ‘Oga, I want to join Leventis United.’ He gave me a figure which was too high. I told him I couldn’t give that kind of money to someone who would play back-up to Wole (Odegbami). He was shocked and he left. That was my contact with Etim.

Club owners then like Abiola, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and you had issues with the Nigeria Football Association, which eventually led to the disbandment of your team. What actually happened between the club owners and NFA then?

NFA were not doing what they were supposed to do. I remember in one Challenge Cup game we played in Lagos, the stadium had a minimum of 80,000 fans but they told us there were only 9,000 tickets. These kinds of things were happening all along. We were representing Nigeria in Africa and we were not given any money, we had to pay all the cost of traveling on our own. Abiola, Iwuanyanwu and I met and agreed that we were going to disband our teams so as to shake up NFA a bit. Besides, our sponsors were not eager to pay that kind of money any more. Abiola and Leventis kept our words but Iwuayanwu came back and said the team was not owned by him, that it belonged to his state, so he couldn’t disband them. He even requested from me that I passed some of my players to him, which I did.

You were a member of the Presidential Task Force to qualify Nigeria for the 2010 World Cup. How was the experience?

It was a great experience for me because I wanted Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup. Therefore, I was very keen to give whatever I could to make it happen. I was met reluctantly by the team because they were not sure of our role compared to the NFF Technical Committee. But I made it known to them straight away that I was there to help them; that I was not there for any glory. But it was unfortunate what happened in South Africa because we had a team that could get to the next round. The games against Greece and Korea were games we should have won.

Nigeria have been grouped twice with Greece at the World Cup – in 1994 and 2010. How did you handle the nationality conflict?

I supported Nigeria on both occasions. I always made it very clear that even though Greece was my country of origin, I haven’t worked in Greek football but I have worked in Nigerian football. I have contributed to Nigerian football so it did not even come to my mind that I was going to support any country other than Nigeria. I remember when (Daniel) Amokachi scored the second goal against Greece at USA ‘94. I jubilated because that was a great goal. I was there among Greeks wearing my Nigerian colours. So, there is no doubt about where my loyalty lies.

As an Ibadan man, how well do you speak the Yoruba language?

My pidgin English is very good but my major regret is that I cannot speak local Nigerian languages better than I do. I speak a bit of Yoruba and I don’t think anybody can buy me or sell me off in my presence because I will understand what they are talking about. But I regret not learning it better. The biggest pleasure I derived from my days in football is that I was involved with grassroots people and that is exactly where the beauty of Nigeria lies, among the people at the grassroots. I gave my all for them. Because I was dealing with grassroots people, I should have learned more Yoruba but I guess I was too busy winning trophies for Leventis.

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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by The Eagle »

Thanks for posting this Toxic.

Leventis United got on my nerves. It was annoying the way they would win the trophies I wanted my club to win. Very inconsiderate of them. And just when we were finally "rid" of them, here come Oloye and BCC to spoil market. :veryangry:
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by Enugu II »

I like the piece. Thanks, Toxic. Leventis was built as an All Star team and that is not my favorite way to build a team. I never supported them but I did respect their achievement. They played good soccer as well.
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by Dammy »

Leventis had the best welfare package for it's players in Nigeria then. It was so good that Leventis players regularly turned down invitations to the Green Eagles because the welfare package was not good enough. They behaved like spoilt brats.
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by Damunk »

There was a 'professional' aura about Leventis and their game was sweet to watch. I admired them from afar. I seem to remember they played in all-white, which is always a big plus with me.
Great interview. :thumb:
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by rust09 »

Very good interview!

Thanks for posting.
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

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Great club, and good club owner and motivator. I used to watch them practicing on the IITA lush practice pitches early in the clubs life cycle. They brought in their fine new cars to training, but we're all disciplined. Many also continued schooling at UI ( guys like Matthew Onyeama, Andrew Uwe I think etc)

We missed an opportunity to develop our league at that point, due to selfishness of the people at the NFA.
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by greg »

Great interview. There is basically every type of lesson in it for anybody looking to succeed at anything in life. I would buy his autobiography if he has one.
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by folem »

fajex wrote:Great club, and good club owner and motivator. I used to watch them practicing on the IITA lush practice pitches early in the clubs life cycle. They brought in their fine new cars to training, but we're all disciplined. Many also continued schooling at UI ( guys like Matthew Onyeama, Andrew Uwe I think etc)

We missed an opportunity to develop our league at that point, due to selfishness of the people at the NFA.
It looked so, but so called professional football started shortly after. Leventis United was a great team. There 1984 feat was Super.
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

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His discussion of dealing with 3SC sounds like dealing with the Mafia... 8-)
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

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fajex wrote:Great club, and good club owner and motivator. I used to watch them practicing on the IITA lush practice pitches early in the clubs life cycle. They brought in their fine new cars to training, but we're all disciplined. Many also continued schooling at UI ( guys like Matthew Onyeama, Andrew Uwe I think etc)

We missed an opportunity to develop our league at that point, due to selfishness of the people at the NFA.
There were always clubs like Leventis Utd to varying degrees in Nigerian football...

NNB Benin, Alyufsalam Rocks, Raccah Rovers, Abiola Babes, Julius Berger, Flash Flamengoes, Iwuanyanwu Nationale, BCC Lions, ACB Lagos (under Tony Nnachetta), etc. Even Mighty Jets when it was owned by Alhaji Isyiaku used to undertake preseason playing tours of Brazil, and employed Brazilian coaches. Ultimately, though, none of these were sustainable as their fortunes were not institutional (or institutionalized) but largely depended on the vagaries of individuals.
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

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fajex wrote:Great club, and good club owner and motivator. I used to watch them practicing on the IITA lush practice pitches early in the clubs life cycle. They brought in their fine new cars to training, but we're all disciplined. Many also continued schooling at UI ( guys like Matthew Onyeama, Andrew Uwe I think etc)

We missed an opportunity to develop our league at that point, due to selfishness of the people at the NFA.
interesting...was there quite often...
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

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Enugu II wrote:I like the piece. Thanks, Toxic. Leventis was built as an All Star team and that is not my favorite way to build a team. I never supported them but I did respect their achievement. They played good soccer as well.
Leventis was NOT an All Star team. It was a team where the team was greater than the sum of its individual parts. Leventis made the players look much better than they were.
“We do not have natural disasters in Nigeria, the only disaster we have is human beings,”
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

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Gotti wrote:His discussion of dealing with 3SC sounds like dealing with the Mafia... 8-)
He learnt from the experience of Water Corporation, IBL Ilesha and Femo scorpions. Leventis always avoid playing IICC until they met in Division 1 League. They always withdraw whenever thèy are due to meet IICC.
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by Prince »

I always play football George Hassans son who was the team manager great discussion about the team. It's amazing how this guy manage to form this team's from nothing. Eagles cement was similar started by an oyinbo guy that likes Celtic. A bit of organisation and we can go far
Oya back to the matter
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by FATHER TIKO »

John Mastoroudes knows football...One of a few Nigerians I have utmost respect for for their deep knowledge of the game (the others are Segun Odegbami & Sunny Ojeagbase)

But I never joined the hype for Leventis...there was always something irreverent about Leventis, Abiola & Iwuanyanwu as clubs... sure those clubs were better managed, but still...

Give me a more professionally-managed Rangers, Bendel, IICC , Enyimba, even Stores, anyday...those were 'clubs' that made football seem like religion...
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

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FATHER TIKO wrote:John Mastoroudes knows football...One of a few Nigerians I have utmost respect for for their deep knowledge of the game (the others are Segun Odegbami & Sunny Ojeagbase)

But I never joined the hype for Leventis...there was always something irreverent about Leventis, Abiola & Iwuanyanwu as clubs... sure those clubs were better managed, but still...

Give me a more professionally-managed Rangers, Bendel, IICC , Enyimba, even Stores, anyday...those were 'clubs' that made football seem like religion...
What could that be apart from not willing to accept the new order? :taunt:

Leventis, BBC, NNB defied the established order! Leventis went undefeated in division 3. Top all the divisions! Won the FA cup as a division 3 team.
“We do not have natural disasters in Nigeria, the only disaster we have is human beings,”
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Re: Interview with Leventis United chairman, John Mastoroude

Post by FATHER TIKO »

wanaj0 wrote:
FATHER TIKO wrote:John Mastoroudes knows football...One of a few Nigerians I have utmost respect for for their deep knowledge of the game (the others are Segun Odegbami & Sunny Ojeagbase)

But I never joined the hype for Leventis...there was always something irreverent about Leventis, Abiola & Iwuanyanwu as clubs... sure those clubs were better managed, but still...

Give me a more professionally-managed Rangers, Bendel, IICC , Enyimba, even Stores, anyday...those were 'clubs' that made football seem like religion...
What could that be apart from not willing to accept the new order? :taunt:

Leventis, BBC, NNB defied the established order! Leventis went undefeated in division 3. Top all the divisions! Won the FA cup as a division 3 team.
We can spend all day debating about the 'revolution' of NNB, BCC, Leventis, etc; but show me a Leventis fan who would spend his last kobo to travel to watch Leventis, and I'll show you 10,000 Bendel fans who would travel to Sokoto for Bedel

A great fan-base actually make clubs; not 'ideas', because the club must be rooted in a community. That's what I imply by 'reverence'...

The day Nigeria clubside football would experience true revolution is when profit-oriented ownership takes over clubs like Rangers, IICC, Enyimba, Bendel, Stores, Pillars, Jets, Akwa Utd, Rivers Utd, etc

That's what the Etihad Group are doing with City; City already had sufficient 'roots' in Manchester...

Did Leventis have sufficient roots in Ibadan..?(as Iddo Tigers, they were originally based in Lagos, no?) Did NNB in Benin..?

Iwuanyanwu & Abiola had the sufficient roots, but the owners apparently were 'frustrated' by the environment of the time...
"...Some say football is not a matter of life and death;
I can assure you it's more important than that..."
- Bill Shankly

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