TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

[danfo driver]

Saw this Thread on Twitter (X) and found it intetesting.

[danfo driver]

https://x.com/tobyasky/status/1882372082626937162?s=12

How I wish football works like this, it doesn’t.

I went to few trials in Europe, but I sponsored myself and the first one I got in Italy serie C, the agent was an Albanian and a big thief. I left.

The only genuine one I got was in Spain’s 4th division but then I got a knee injury.

In Lagos, the teams I played for, had scouting programs where European agents came, they’ll pick you for next phase of trials and boom you don’t hear from them again.

Scouting program with like 500 players across many teams. The person that brought the agent has a player in mind already but will host a competition as an avenue for them to see his player.

One of the teams I played for had a link to an agent who had a link with another Israel agent, I remember they use to charge at least 400k then as at 2016/17, they’ll take you there, abandon you, the club won’t even give you a proper trial, after 14 days they’re back.

It’s a very very difficult situation from
Nigeria, very very…

I personally reached out to over 120 football clubs. Sent emails, reached out via social media and all, uploaded my videos, it was very difficult.

The good thing is, the only genuine one I got in spain was through instagram, the algorithms noticed my search over time and would even suggest different agents for me to follow.

This man chatted me and wanted to take me to 3rd division but age again came into play, then we moved to 4th. First day in the club, dem don give me everything, I was glad I was gonna get a chance.

The man told me in Spanish to rip this division off and I’ll go to the top, injury came knocking and the rest is history.

All these Sevilla give him a trial doesn’t work, football no Dey work like that, the Grace wey you need go mad gan, genuine agents wey go fit help.

One agent told me that once you’re 24, as an African living in Africa, your chances of playing pro football is less than 5%.

To add to this, only 1% club in Europe will give you a trial if you’re above 19.

Most times, you should even be playing in at a good level, not Lagos Liga.

Stephen Odey was 18 and won top scorer in Nigerian league with MFM when Fidelis was coach, it was easy for a club to take him to Switzerland because he was already at a level and AGE was on his side to develop.

Once you’re above this age, your chances at pro football is at its lowest. No professional club, talkless of a La Liga club like Sevilla, will be given you trial when you’ve not played pro football before.

Just be like you dey apply for one big position for one company without any prior experience.

[danfo driver]

https://x.com/tobyasky/status/1882483474579509514

I met Semiu Ajayi of West Brom some years ago in Dartford, England. I went for one rubbish trial like that. I knew it was $#% but just wanted to see for myself.

If I remember well too, Efe Sodje, ex-Nigeria international was invited who gave some pep talk.

The organiser is a very popular man, most of you will know him. I won’t say his name. He parades as an agent, actually he’s licensed but man does not have any connect. He just has players as friends and they respect him but I don’t understand organising trials every now and then just to charge people to pay for the trials and it doesn’t look like there’s a pathway.

Just a money-making scheme to me.

He go bring maybe trainers wey be say dem be kitman for clubs, dem go say dem be trainers from Crystal Palace lol.

In this football, you’ll come across things like this, na that Albanian agent still chop my money pass for Italy, God go punish am

That man go cast one day.

Imagine going for a trial and they’ll be putting you on same pitch with Under 13s, y’all will be playing like a mixed team.

If I never experience am, if dem tell me I no go believe.

This man keeps hosting trials and charging people plenty £££.

He’ll snap with footballers so y’all will think he’s legit or he has connections, na big lie. Rubbish.

I won’t be the one to expose him, one day someone will.

[danfo driver]

https://x.com/tobyasky/status/1882504053588099299?s=12

Real Story:

I met Shittu at Souther Sun Hotel, Ikoyi in 2014 if I’m not mistaken.

He was the one who took Mikel Obi to Europe.

He had a very good friend who wanted to contest for a position, I think house of reps, not sure. My mum was part of those stakeholders you speak to for votes you get.

My mum said to the man, “I have a son who plays football, just help him, I don’t need your money”. This man facilitated my meeting with Shittu.

I went to Southern Sun Hotel, I didn’t even know that one day I would afford to sleep there by myself. I was intrigued, see this mad hotel, this man get money o.

We sha spoke, but after then, I never heard anything, plenty promises and nothing. The day I went to the breakfast area at Southern Sun, after I spent the night there, I just remembered that spot where I spoke to the man many years ago lol.

Life.

By the way, it’s not Shittu I’m referring too, this man wey I dey talk popular, he go dey charge people money for trials for uk, but all na money-making scheme.

You lose lots of years brother.

Thanks to my mother. I attended a secondary school owned by the great SEGUN ODEGBAMI, in Ogun state.

We combined football and academics.

Every morning 5:30-6:30am, we trained, serious fitness. We go to classes from 8-3pm ish to learn Chemistry and the likes lol.

4:30-6:30pm, we train in the evening, sessions led by top coaches across Africa and Europe. That was how it started.

My mother made sure I went to uni even after I got offers from some agents to help me to Europe, I do not know if it could have worked but I blamed her then, I don’t anymore because life must go on.

In Unilorin, I didn’t leave football, I got to the level that I captained the university to west African university games (WAUG) and played some NUGA games too.

I also played for some teams like shooting stars in Ilorin and so many tournaments.

I didn’t still leave football, went across Lagos and Abuja looking for how to make it and later I was lucky to find some light but still didn’t work out when I got to Europe, as I got injured.

If you’re really invested in this like most pro ballers are, you no go get time go school or even do anything else, you would have lost everything if you don’t make it in football.

This is why Trent Alexander Arnold started an initiative recently to help academy players who didn’t make it to pro. Remember, in England, only 1% academy boys make it to pro. See how difficult it is.

I wish your uncle the best.

[danfo driver]

https://x.com/tobyasky/status/1882444980704419906?s=12

Let me tell you a bit about Osimhen.

I use to to train with a team at National stadium many years ago, dem Osimhen trains on legacy pitch (the Astro turf inside National stadium), I think Tuesdays and Thursdays if I’m not wrong, one of those team is Nath Boys, Ndidi too is from Nath Boys, I remember very well, they have few guys abroad. I can’t remember the other teams that train there.

This is another way for you as a player if you believe you’re exceptional and you’ve got a good age, get a solid club even in Lagos that their owners have serious leg and connections. To join these clubs sef for Lagos, dem go do trial for you or if na one person send you go there.

Let me digress, there are clubs in Lagos that are very serious clubs even if they’re at amateur level, clubs like 36 lions, Nath Boys, Young strikers (they train inside Teslim that year), the owners have connections and know what they want, they can send you to an NNL (Nigerian league second division) like all those Ikorodu United (I remember going for their trial when they first promoted to NPFL and I only played 5mins, you know why? They already know players wey dem wan choose lol) or even NPFL trust me, they also have European agents in smaller countries.

They invite agents, host tournaments so the agents will primarily come and see their players (not you), they’ll try to sponsor ONE exceptional player at least in a year for trial.

Many boys dey move that year (one I remember is Onobun, I played against their team many times, dem sabi ball, I think he’s in the lower divisions in Portugal now: https://instagram.com/_onobun_?igsh=a3U4NnUyNWs4bTI3 (that’s his profile), another one we call little Messi, he also moved to a small country in Europe.

These clubs are serious minded and the owners sef get money and they’ve made a little from football, they also know the countries to target, like many Nigerian boys are in the lower leagues in Portugal, a lot.

Another IMPORTANT place they can send you to is national team U-17, many of these clubs have players who go for all these under 17, under 20 and the likes, the owners get leg and if you’re good as a player, they’ll push you. Osimhen got invited to under17 camp and the rest is history.

All those coaches like Ugbade, Amuneke, Ikpeba, dem Dey come watch their training sef on a normal day. These are serious amateur teams in Lagos, and the boys there are young and dem Dey ball like mad. You’ll play against them and you’ll think they’re pro players.

No be all those teams wey all of una go assemble on training day o, they have a lodge, they leave together, they have a team bus that takes them to training. I remember in 2015/16 or so when they took them to an international tournament, they played with Wolves academy and some other teams, one of my guy has a picture with Conor Robert’s currently in Burnley, serious football team. Funny enough, not all those boys in the academies will make it, just like England, the percentage becomes smaller.

I remember there was a team that had this leg too, they call them “Traveling Team” as they had agents who visited often, I borrowed money to travel to Abuja as I was invited for trials, I spent one week in that club, and they disbanded and I became stranded in Abuja lol. Suffer start.

You cannot come on twitter and think reposts will take you to a top tier club, football hard pass like that, the grace for that kain thing go too mad. Follow process, play serious football, upload serious clips, asks us to repost for 3rd tier club , chances increases.

I get another weyrey for Portugal, he don dey lower levels for like 5 years for Portugal.

He Dey post pictures of Europe, una go think say he get money but man must maintain lifestyle. He Dey enter different countries and many people don’t even know that there’s no border control in Europe, you can move within countries easily even by train or bus. He Dey pepper una for naija but the suffer is real.

He Dey date one European babe now, if football no work, I sha go secure this one

Many boys have left Nigeria, and suffering across Europe.

I sent €50 to my friend last week in Portugal. He Dey play 4th division, dem dey suffer like mad, the best thing the clubs provide are accommodation and maybe €100 per month salary.

It’s difficult and they have nothing to fall back on. One of them told me he wants to get UK visa and maybe come and work in warehouse or anything.

Only a few percentage of them will climb the ladder, a few. You can be exceptional and not even make it. It’s hard.

…but you see that process ehn, you cannot jump it in football, you just can’t. Jumping from streets football to La Liga, a very strange move that has a 99% chance of not happening.

I mean, if they even give you a trial, you’ll know the levels are too high. One can’t survive it if you’ve not at least tasted something similar.

One of my friend, CJ, went to Feyenoord B-Team trial in 2017/18 thereabouts.

He was there for about 20 days before he came back. He said he has never seen that level of training in his life. No be all these run 50 laps for naija o lol.

This CJ wey I dey tell you dey ball like mad o!

He started with the ball analysis, he said once you hit a pass, the ball flies and moves with the speed of light , asking if it’s the same air that is inside the one we play in naija

I have a Belgian friend who got so frustrated playing in the 4th division in spain, cos dem no go pay you sef or maybe €100 per month, they’re also broke.

The guy went back to Belgium to play amateur and doing side jobs, at least he go dey chop food for hin family house.

This guy I’m talking about is a proper baller, but everything just hard lol, even as an European.

[danfo driver]

If a 4th-tier football team wants to even invite you for trial, you have to show them videos of you playing serious football.

This video I have attached is even a Saturday league football in England, lowest of the lowest, imagine I want to pitch an agent to just take me to ordinary 5th division, I can do that.

I know it can be very expensive because you’re not earning, but you need to get proper cameramen. Lucky for you, if you go for scouting programs or you play matches and they’re recorded, you can pay whoever did to give you a copy.

The videos must be well edited and it must show you playing serious football, not Jeun Jeun 5-aside or men with pot belly, even the opponents sef go look fit.

I had some videos then that I would send to European agents to help my life lol.

[danfo driver]

Frame 1 & 2: Pre-season friendly for 5th division club in spain

Frame 3: Bed wey men Dey sleep just to make am for Europe.

Frame 4: The Italy one I mentioned for Serie C, pre-season too. But that Albanian agent collect all the money for my hand wey be say I no see food chop sef.

Football is HARD.

In England, only 1% of academy players make it to professional football and about 1% too also make it to Premier league / Top-tier football.

Now look yourself from Africa, what are the odds? Twitter repost should be for like 3rd or 4th division clubs, enter the system, rip the lower leagues off, then top teams will come. You cannot cheat football walai.

If they take you to a la liga team, or even championship level clubs, I swear, he no go last 2 days lol. The levels are crazy crazy. Na only when we watch dem for TV we dey make mouth.

I did not even touch more on "language barrier".

First time in Spain, na so so "rapido rapido" I dey hear. You go be striker, you no go touch ball for 15mins, because their defenders plus your own dey build from the back...but when their own defenders hold ball, you gas presssssss, Rapido rapido, baba you go run like mad

Its frustrating for those coaches when they line up training programs and you no even understand wetin dem dey talk, you go con be like slow learner, try dey replicate wetin others dey do.

11 v 11 no be wetin dem go take rate you. dem get mad training programs, you sef go know say football no be mai mai

[danfo driver]

No be hate.

Uche who currently plays in Getafe was 18 and he was playing in 4th division in spain. Now he’s in La Liga, and he’s still 21. Age na big factor for Europe.

When I was in spain, at the training centre, there’s one Nigerian guy I made friend with who was playing for BERCEO, they’re in 4th or 5th now, not just that guy, I met many Nigerians at that level and they’re even more in Portugal.

He would have gotten a better chance hustling for a 4th division team trial and let’s hope his age is below 20.

Because at that level, na kids full there, 18/19/20 year old boys wey dey ball pass you sef, some dey loans from 2nd and 3rd division side. Then he builds from there.

Only a few at this level sef progress to la liga or Segunda division, but let’s hope he’s exceptional. But you cannot just jump from street football or lagos liga to having a trial with proper pro ballers, chances are less than 1%.

He can’t cope at that level, na mouth we get, once you jam top tier football level, you go understand say 6 and half a dozen na different things.

[danfo driver]

https://x.com/tobyasky/status/1882533784924356819?s=12

Last tweet on this football discourse.

Ways to go PRO as a footballer.

I’m talking as someone who has chased this right from under13 level, gone for u17 camp, NPFL team trials and across Europe too. So I’m speaking from an informed position.

If you wanna go pro as a footballer., understand reality first. Understanding reality does not mean you’re not talented. Awareness is key.

In England (home of football), only 1% of academy players make it to pro football, you can confirm these stats, and only 1% out of that 1% make it to top-flight football.

1. Have a back up!
This is difficult because football is a full-time job, I know all of these, I’ve been there but just have a back up because there are many people who have put their all in these and ended up not making it, you can confirm this by looking at all those egbon adugbo in your area that you saw playing while growing up.

In fact, we all have that friend who was really good, still didn’t go pro and then became almost useless. Please have a back up. Learn a skill after training, and there are a lot you can even learn online, such as Graphic designing and the likes.

2. AGE
Age is football in Europe. Of course we see these guys in Europe, Lamine, Mainoo, all these young boys playing premier league football at that age, while you’d be 28 years old and you’ve not touched even NNL. Common let’s be real. Take a skill more serious than the football. Your chances are lower. I said in the other tweet that an European agent told me that when you’re 24 and you’re not at a level playing regular football to some extent, you most likely won’t make it in football. The percentage of those who do are below 1%.

3. Join a proper club at your local level
I use to take 3 buses to go to training in Lagos, no be say clubs no dey my area o, but I was playing with a good team at national stadium in Surulere.

These teams participate in scouting programs every time, they are quite exposed to so many tournaments, the drills and training programs are also tough. Teams like Nath Boys, Box to Box, 36 Lions, Team 360, Young Strikers, Ultimate Strikers, these are serious teams and they have more players that have moved to Europe than other clubs. Not just Europe, they can send you to NNL & NPFL clubs because their owners are connected.

They also have connect to under17/20 and the likes where you can get a chance for trial. We all know national competitions are the fastest way for a player to get a club.

4. Record Videos
Try as much as possible to record your games, it is very important. It might be expensive but please try. Those teams I talked about, they usually go for scouting games that are recorded, speak to the camera man to give a copy and pay.

You also need to do a good mashup of these compiled videos.

5. Marketing
Try upload these videos on every platform. Social media is the new world. Search for different agents on these platforms, look for their emails, message them, show them your videos. Be aggressive.

6. Don’t rush to do your passport (I know what I’m saying and I know aspiring footballers know)

These days, passports can get ready in 2/3 days, so do it when you have to, you know why.

7. Pray for a good agent. A good agent won’t even charge you a dime, because at the end of the day, he’ll make money if he gets a contract for you.

8. Know what you’re signing.
Even at those amateur clubs I mentioned in number 3, if European club sign you, wahala go dey o, you go hear as clubs go dey fight say na dem get you. It can discourage a club, I’ve seen it severally.

9. Watch plenty football
You learn by doing that.

10. Get your family to buy into what you enjoy doing, some might be difficult but look for a balance. If dem wan make you go schooo first, go the school and still be training.

I will add more if I think further.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Very interesting read. Football is a young man’s game. These days talent is identified at a very young age when kids ages 9-13yrs are playing recreational football. The ones with the most talent are identified and given proper football education as they grow. Its almost like identifying brain surgeons at 10yrs old and developing them to be doing surgery at 22yrs old. To be a player for the top teams in the world no be beans at all. There’re literally more brain surgeons in the world than world class defenders, strikers or MF.,

Where we’ve failed in Nigeria is our unwillingness to develop sports in our primary and secondary schools. That’s where we will find real talent that we still have time to develop into serious footballers. If we put together a statewide u15 development program where kids can play on decent pitches with good coaching, we can easily get up to 5-10 players annually who will be good enough in 5yrs to sign for the best teams.

Much respect to the young players who travel the world over to make it at 18yrs and older, they have to but it’s too late for most at that point.

[aruako1]

I read this on twitter but thank you for posting it here, Danfo. It shows that even lower levels European football has moved beyond us. And it is not just about the money, we do not have a dedicated and professional systems. Many of the players hustling to go abroad should ideally develop within the system first.

[txj]

I read this on twitter but thank you for posting it here, Danfo. It shows that even lower levels European football has moved beyond us. And it is not just about the money, we do not have a dedicated and professional systems. Many of the players hustling to go abroad should ideally develop within the system first.

Develop how? And by whom?

[txj]

Several years ago, because of family relationship with individuals in Nigeria who owned a football club/academy with interest in transferring players to Europe, I was asked for help in "guiding" the "project"
I respectfully declined...

The stories here are a mere tip of the iceberg...
We are not a serious country.

[txj]

One of my friend, CJ, went to Feyenoord B-Team trial in 2017/18 thereabouts.

He was there for about 20 days before he came back. He said he has never seen that level of training in his life. No be all these run 50 laps for naija o lol.

This CJ wey I dey tell you dey ball like mad o!

He started with the ball analysis, he said once you hit a pass, the ball flies and moves with the speed of light , asking if it’s the same air that is inside the one we play in naija

The above is what some of us have been saying here for years. We do not understand what modern football is about...

Yet you have ignorant folks on CE who do not understand football argue here about how local coaches are as good as anybody!

[Damunk]

One of my friend, CJ, went to Feyenoord B-Team trial in 2017/18 thereabouts.

He was there for about 20 days before he came back. He said he has never seen that level of training in his life. No be all these run 50 laps for naija o lol.

This CJ wey I dey tell you dey ball like mad o!

He started with the ball analysis, he said once you hit a pass, the ball flies and moves with the speed of light , asking if it’s the same air that is inside the one we play in naija

The above is what some of us have been saying here for years. We do not understand what modern football is about...

Yet you have ignorant folks on CE who do not understand football argue here about how local coaches are as good as anybody!

This is true.
But you know us now.
‘Anyhowness’ is our middle name.

“We have talent”
Agreed.
But what next?

[joao]

But you know us now.
‘Anyhowness’ is our middle name.

“We have talent”
Agreed.
But what next?

The highlighted is the main reason why we should not keep encouraging that attitude 'top-down'.

If we ever get to believe and enforce 'law and order', the sky will be the limit.
For now, we will keep reaping what we sow.

[Lolly]

I have heard so many of these stories. Football business is big business and very competitive in most of Europe. Majority of our boys who come for trials don’t have the required football education needed to compete and get signed on by most clubs.

I once had to take my nephew to a trial at Chelsea football ground many years ago. The young man was in his first year of University in Canada. Born in Lagos and a proper ajebutter boy whose dad was a top notch at Mobil in Lagos. He played football for his private school and believed so much in his talent that he told his dad he didn’t want to go to university anymore and wanted to play football.

His dad tried so hard to discourage him but he was adamant. So the dad agreed for him to give it a try. The boy found a football agency in the UK that held trials at top league clubs. It was a paid for programme and had many agents in attendance.

So he came down from Canada to stay with me for 3 weeks to prepare and attend the trial. His dad joined him a few days later. We had a long chat about is plans and I told him and his dad how difficult it is going to be going by his level of exposure to high level football. He kept on telling us that we haven’t seen him play football hence why we were doubting him.

I never played professional football but I played for school and university in Nigeria, so I had decent exposure. The boy also played for his Lekki based private secondary school and was in the Canadian university team. But there are levels in this game. I had played with and against a few SE players in my time at Unilag and NUGA games and I played Principal Cup in Lagos during the hey days.

He was with me for 2 weeks before the trials and used to wake up early in the morning and go to my back garden to do some light training. I would wake up to go and watch him train and I immediately noticed the low intensity training he was doing and very basic ball work. So I told him he needed a lot more and that he should first go for runs in a public park nearby and then come back and do some more training. He wasn’t too keen on it and told me he had been training hard with his Uni team in Canada before he came down and that he was very ready.

So fast forward to the day of the trials. His dad had to return to work in Nigeria and I was tasked with taking him to the trials. I was in the stands and watched the full trial match. The first thing I noticed was that he was not up to speed with the others. He was a CM but not very mobile and probably had the least number of touches on the pitch that day. And his fitness was very poor. He gassed out very early and was struggling to keep up with his teammates. He was playing with 17-19 year olds (he was 19 at the time) most of whom had been in youth clubs with UK clubs and some from foreign counties who had played senior club football in their countries of origin. Sadly, he was the worst player on the pitch that day though still a good footballer who wouldn’t have looked out of place in some lover division clubs. At the end of the trial match, he knew he was disappointing and became deeply depressed. He never said a word on the journey home, went straight to bed at 7pm and didn’t come out of his room till mid day next day. That was the end of his dream of becoming a professional football. And today after finishing university, he is a top IT consultant earning big bucks.

But on that day, one young black player stood out. He was a left back who overlapped a lot. Solid player. The boy was from Ghana and had almost all the scouts all over him after the match. So I was curious to know what level he had played before. So I asked his uncle who brought him and he said the boy was 17, was with a first division club in Ghana and had played a full season of senior football. He was exceptional on the day. Football truly get levels.

[aruako1]

I read this on twitter but thank you for posting it here, Danfo. It shows that even lower levels European football has moved beyond us. And it is not just about the money, we do not have a dedicated and professional systems. Many of the players hustling to go abroad should ideally develop within the system first.

Develop how? And by whom?

Did you miss the word "ideally"? Or are we looking for a tiresome argument?

[txj]

I read this on twitter but thank you for posting it here, Danfo. It shows that even lower levels European football has moved beyond us. And it is not just about the money, we do not have a dedicated and professional systems. Many of the players hustling to go abroad should ideally develop within the system first.

Develop how? And by whom?

Did you miss the word "ideally"? Or are we looking for a tiresome argument?

By whom?

[niyi]

I have heard so many of these stories. Football business is big business and very competitive in most of Europe. Majority of our boys who come for trials don’t have the required football education needed to compete and get signed on by most clubs.

I once had to take my nephew to a trial at Chelsea football ground many years ago. The young man was in his first year of University in Canada. Born in Lagos and a proper ajebutter boy whose dad was a top notch at Mobil in Lagos. He played football for his private school and believed so much in his talent that he told his dad he didn’t want to go to university anymore and wanted to play football.

His dad tried so hard to discourage him but he was adamant. So the dad agreed for him to give it a try. The boy found a football agency in the UK that held trials at top league clubs. It was a paid for programme and had many agents in attendance.

So he came down from Canada to stay with me for 3 weeks to prepare and attend the trial. His dad joined him a few days later. We had a long chat about is plans and I told him and his dad how difficult it is going to be going by his level of exposure to high level football. He kept on telling us that we haven’t seen him play football hence why we were doubting him.

I never played professional football but I played for school and university in Nigeria, so I had decent exposure. The boy also played for his Lekki based private secondary school and was in the Canadian university team. But there are levels in this game. I had played with and against a few SE players in my time at Unilag and NUGA games and I played Principal Cup in Lagos during the hey days.

He was with me for 2 weeks before the trials and used to wake up early in the morning and go to my back garden to do some light training. I would wake up to go and watch him train and I immediately noticed the low intensity training he was doing and very basic ball work. So I told him he needed a lot more and that he should first go for runs in a public park nearby and then come back and do some more training. He wasn’t too keen on it and told me he had been training hard with his Uni team in Canada before he came down and that he was very ready.

So fast forward to the day of the trials. His dad had to return to work in Nigeria and I was tasked with taking him to the trials. I was in the stands and watched the full trial match. The first thing I noticed was that he was not up to speed with the others. He was a CM but not very mobile and probably had the least number of touches on the pitch that day. And his fitness was very poor. He gassed out very early and was struggling to keep up with his teammates. He was playing with 17-19 year olds (he was 19 at the time) most of whom had been in youth clubs with UK clubs and some from foreign counties who had played senior club football in their countries of origin. Sadly, he was the worst player on the pitch that day though still a good footballer who wouldn’t have looked out of place in some lover division clubs. At the end of the trial match, he knew he was disappointing and became deeply depressed. He never said a word on the journey home, went straight to bed at 7pm and didn’t come out of his room till mid day next day. That was the end of his dream of becoming a professional football. And today after finishing university, he is a top IT consultant earning big bucks.

But on that day, one young black player stood out. He was a left back who overlapped a lot. Solid player. The boy was from Ghana and had almost all the scouts all over him after the match. So I was curious to know what level he had played before. So I asked his uncle who brought him and he said the boy was 17, was with a first division club in Ghana and had played a full season of senior football. He was exceptional on the day. Football truly get levels.

Thanks for sharing. I wonder where the Ghanaian is playing now

[danfo driver]

I have heard so many of these stories. Football business is big business and very competitive in most of Europe. Majority of our boys who come for trials don’t have the required football education needed to compete and get signed on by most clubs.

I once had to take my nephew to a trial at Chelsea football ground many years ago. The young man was in his first year of University in Canada. Born in Lagos and a proper ajebutter boy whose dad was a top notch at Mobil in Lagos. He played football for his private school and believed so much in his talent that he told his dad he didn’t want to go to university anymore and wanted to play football.

His dad tried so hard to discourage him but he was adamant. So the dad agreed for him to give it a try. The boy found a football agency in the UK that held trials at top league clubs. It was a paid for programme and had many agents in attendance.

So he came down from Canada to stay with me for 3 weeks to prepare and attend the trial. His dad joined him a few days later. We had a long chat about is plans and I told him and his dad how difficult it is going to be going by his level of exposure to high level football. He kept on telling us that we haven’t seen him play football hence why we were doubting him.

I never played professional football but I played for school and university in Nigeria, so I had decent exposure. The boy also played for his Lekki based private secondary school and was in the Canadian university team. But there are levels in this game. I had played with and against a few SE players in my time at Unilag and NUGA games and I played Principal Cup in Lagos during the hey days.

He was with me for 2 weeks before the trials and used to wake up early in the morning and go to my back garden to do some light training. I would wake up to go and watch him train and I immediately noticed the low intensity training he was doing and very basic ball work. So I told him he needed a lot more and that he should first go for runs in a public park nearby and then come back and do some more training. He wasn’t too keen on it and told me he had been training hard with his Uni team in Canada before he came down and that he was very ready.

So fast forward to the day of the trials. His dad had to return to work in Nigeria and I was tasked with taking him to the trials. I was in the stands and watched the full trial match. The first thing I noticed was that he was not up to speed with the others. He was a CM but not very mobile and probably had the least number of touches on the pitch that day. And his fitness was very poor. He gassed out very early and was struggling to keep up with his teammates. He was playing with 17-19 year olds (he was 19 at the time) most of whom had been in youth clubs with UK clubs and some from foreign counties who had played senior club football in their countries of origin. Sadly, he was the worst player on the pitch that day though still a good footballer who wouldn’t have looked out of place in some lover division clubs. At the end of the trial match, he knew he was disappointing and became deeply depressed. He never said a word on the journey home, went straight to bed at 7pm and didn’t come out of his room till mid day next day. That was the end of his dream of becoming a professional football. And today after finishing university, he is a top IT consultant earning big bucks.

But on that day, one young black player stood out. He was a left back who overlapped a lot. Solid player. The boy was from Ghana and had almost all the scouts all over him after the match. So I was curious to know what level he had played before. So I asked his uncle who brought him and he said the boy was 17, was with a first division club in Ghana and had played a full season of senior football. He was exceptional on the day. Football truly get levels.

Thanks for sharing. I wonder where the Ghanaian is playing now

yup, where is he now?

[aruako1]

I read this on twitter but thank you for posting it here, Danfo. It shows that even lower levels European football has moved beyond us. And it is not just about the money, we do not have a dedicated and professional systems. Many of the players hustling to go abroad should ideally develop within the system first.

Develop how? And by whom?

Did you miss the word "ideally"? Or are we looking for a tiresome argument?

By whom?

Lol. You can argue with yourself

[Dammy]

I have heard so many of these stories. Football business is big business and very competitive in most of Europe. Majority of our boys who come for trials don’t have the required football education needed to compete and get signed on by most clubs.

I once had to take my nephew to a trial at Chelsea football ground many years ago. The young man was in his first year of University in Canada. Born in Lagos and a proper ajebutter boy whose dad was a top notch at Mobil in Lagos. He played football for his private school and believed so much in his talent that he told his dad he didn’t want to go to university anymore and wanted to play football.

His dad tried so hard to discourage him but he was adamant. So the dad agreed for him to give it a try. The boy found a football agency in the UK that held trials at top league clubs. It was a paid for programme and had many agents in attendance.

So he came down from Canada to stay with me for 3 weeks to prepare and attend the trial. His dad joined him a few days later. We had a long chat about is plans and I told him and his dad how difficult it is going to be going by his level of exposure to high level football. He kept on telling us that we haven’t seen him play football hence why we were doubting him.

I never played professional football but I played for school and university in Nigeria, so I had decent exposure. The boy also played for his Lekki based private secondary school and was in the Canadian university team. But there are levels in this game. I had played with and against a few SE players in my time at Unilag and NUGA games and I played Principal Cup in Lagos during the hey days.

He was with me for 2 weeks before the trials and used to wake up early in the morning and go to my back garden to do some light training. I would wake up to go and watch him train and I immediately noticed the low intensity training he was doing and very basic ball work. So I told him he needed a lot more and that he should first go for runs in a public park nearby and then come back and do some more training. He wasn’t too keen on it and told me he had been training hard with his Uni team in Canada before he came down and that he was very ready.

So fast forward to the day of the trials. His dad had to return to work in Nigeria and I was tasked with taking him to the trials. I was in the stands and watched the full trial match. The first thing I noticed was that he was not up to speed with the others. He was a CM but not very mobile and probably had the least number of touches on the pitch that day. And his fitness was very poor. He gassed out very early and was struggling to keep up with his teammates. He was playing with 17-19 year olds (he was 19 at the time) most of whom had been in youth clubs with UK clubs and some from foreign counties who had played senior club football in their countries of origin. Sadly, he was the worst player on the pitch that day though still a good footballer who wouldn’t have looked out of place in some lover division clubs. At the end of the trial match, he knew he was disappointing and became deeply depressed. He never said a word on the journey home, went straight to bed at 7pm and didn’t come out of his room till mid day next day. That was the end of his dream of becoming a professional football. And today after finishing university, he is a top IT consultant earning big bucks.

But on that day, one young black player stood out. He was a left back who overlapped a lot. Solid player. The boy was from Ghana and had almost all the scouts all over him after the match. So I was curious to know what level he had played before. So I asked his uncle who brought him and he said the boy was 17, was with a first division club in Ghana and had played a full season of senior football. He was exceptional on the day. Football truly get levels.

Bro, you are right, football get levels! I watched the SE train in Hertfordshire in 1994 before their friendly against England, and it was on another level. The speed at which Amunike and Finidi moved on the wings was incredible, and the height in which the players jumped, especially Mutiu, to head the ball was unreal.
I thought I was a good footballer until my school played against University of Ibadan (UI) in the Pepsi Cola Higher Institutions Cup. We shared a dressing room with a UI team that had the likes of Andrew Uwe, Uwem Ekarika, Christian Obi, Dimeji Lawal, Ojokojo Torunarigha, Matthew Onyeama etc. it was the first time I would see players prepare for a match professionally. They had masseurs who massaged them before the match and they all took tablets that looked like panadol to me. While my colleagues and myself were just staring and pointing out the stars to each other. Even our palm wine drinkers club that had followed us with drums to support and motivate us went quiet at the sight of these international players. Needless to say, it was like an exhibition match for UI and they had mercy on us after scoring 6 goals!