22 minute read
Teaming With the Champions —
with Eby Emenike
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Eby Emenike, also known as the Black Doll, was born in Leeds, UK, but she relocated to Nigeria with her family at the tender age of six.
She hated Nigeria initially as she claimed it was too hot and dusty, and she missed her friends in Leeds. It was a huge culture shock for her when she joined Ekulu Primary School, which was one of the best primary schools in Enugu at the time and, before she knew it, she had started adapting to her new life slowly. Memories of her classmates who were caned for minor things like talking too much lingered in her mind. The most traumatic experience was when she was caned because the whole class was making a noise; she cried the whole day.
She soon became an akpuruka (a toughie) and started to see it as part of school life.
After her primary school, she gained admission to Queens School, Enugu and attended classes for two weeks while she awaited her results for FGGC. She later gained admission to Federal Government Girls College in Langtang, Plateau State, in the Northern part of Nigeria. That was another traumatic experience and she never settled into boarding school life. She was eventually relocated to Federal Government College, Enugu where she stayed until SS1 before returning to the UK. She started at Abbey Grange High School, Leeds and, after attaining good GCSEs and A levels, gained admission to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Leeds. She graduated with a second-class honours and worked as an Engineer for 10 years before studying Law as a second degree.
The black doll shares her experience so far in the football industry.
How did you hold up during the lockdown in spite of the suspension of football games?
The effect of the suspended games was an indirect one for me. The players I work with were the ones affected because some of them had their salaries halved due to the inability of their clubs to meet their financial commitments. Some players were unable to travel home for break as they would have to quarantine for a certain number of days. If their break was for 14 days and they would have to quarantine for 10 days, then it was rather pointless. Hence, they had to stay put and started getting quite bored due to their idle state. I tried to communicate with them often and kept them motivated. We discussed useful skills they could acquire whilst the lockdown was on like cooking and learning a new language.
Have you worked remotely? How much of an adjustment was working from home for you?
A huge aspect of my work is conducted remotely so it was nothing new to me. However, there were many occasions when I had loved to meet up with clients to have face-toface meetings or a celebratory drink however that seemed quite impossible.
What lessons, if any, did you learn during the pandemic?
The importance of having some ‘rainy day’ funds became even more apparent during the pandemic. ‘We grew up being taught to save for a rainy day, which most of the time we totally ignored.’ But the pandemic was a really good example of a ‘rainy day’, although this ‘rainy day’ came with thunder and lightning and lasted for over a year. Based on my past experience, I always ring into the ears of the young people I mentor that they should save between 20-30% of their monthly income or less if that is not possible. Some young footballers would tell me they will start saving once they get a big team or a contract, but I remind them that, first, there are no guarantees that they would get a big contract and, second, if they do not develop the habit now, it would be difficult to adopt in the future.
Work Style and Culture What team do you root for and why?
I support Chelsea FC due to the relationship I developed with the club
during the days Michael Essien was playing for the club. I worked with Michael for a few years, and this led to having effective communication with the club. However, as a Leeds girl, I am very much interested in the success of Leeds United and I am so proud of how well they are doing. I must add though that I love football jerseys, and I have so many different jerseys from different clubs that I wear unapologetically.
What are the needs and aspirations of women and girls in sports?
The same as the men and the boys in sports – They want to be respected as sports people. They want to play in big tournaments and have the stadiums filled up. They want to reach the highest levels they can. They want to be able to earn a living from the sports they love playing. Fortunately, we saw from the last FIFA Women’s World Cup in France that women’s football has taken a giant leap. I attended the game between Nigeria and Germany which was played in Grenoble. I was really impressed by the number at the stadium. I’m excited to see what the next few years have in store for the women’s game.
Who is your most successful client? Woman or man? What are the contributory factors to the success of the client?
I work with young African football players, and they are still up and coming so you can ask me this question again in a few years. However, I have worked with some Ghanaian international footballers – Stephen Appiah and Michael Essien – but that had more to do with their public relations and charity work. I also presently work with the Nigerian professional footballer, Simeon Nwankwo, whom I fondly call Simy, and carry out some legal work related to his football career. I believe that success is a combination of talent, hard work and determination coupled with some external influences – opportunity and support.
How do you spot talents? Are you focused only on Africans?
Footballers keep sending me videos to watch and I keep having to stress that I am neither a talent spotter nor a scout. I can tell a good footballer if I see one, but a good talent spotter or a scout is able to spot a young player with raw undiluted talent who, once given adequate training and development, could have a great future in football. A lot of football agents align themselves with good scouts and football clubs or academies. I prefer to stick to what I do best which is the legal side of the game and negotiating or scrutinising contracts. My focus is on Africa, more specifically Nigeria and Ghana, solely because these are English-speaking countries where I have built a good network. I have carried out some work in some French-speaking African countries and all I can say is thank God for Google Translate.
What strategies did you use to sign your most accomplished talents?
The majority of the great talents I work with presently are products of a fantastic academy in Lagos, Nigeria called Real Sapphire. Players such as Chinonso Offor and Victor Boniface, who currently play in the MLS and Norway respectively, were developed in this academy. Working with clubs and academies with a good setup and run by visionaries would always be part of my new strategies when I decide to start up player management activities again.
I also manage a Ghanaian player, Arago Jamal, who recently finished a stint in the UEFA Conference League
with his ex-club – FC Drita and has just signed a contract with Sabail FC in Azerbaijan. We go way back! I assisted him (pro bono) on a couple of football issues many years ago and thereafter he insisted that he wasn’t going anywhere, ha ha. I have taught him a lot about the industry and how agents operate.
What is the difference between a manager and an agent?
In Africa, the terms are used interchangeably. However, I would define a manager (sometimes known as a local manager) as someone who scouts and invests in very young players and seeks local or international opportunities for them. Such could be a club owner, a coach, or a business-minded person. Whereas the work of an agent is a more official role and is someone who has been registered by a Football Association (FA) and authorised to carry out agency work. Agents are currently known as FA intermediaries. Before you are registered as an intermediary, you would usually have a good character check carried out on you and you would need to provide a means of identification and pay a fee. Football players and clubs playing under FIFA are only allowed to work with FA intermediaries and could attract sanctions if they default.
Have you ever lost a client? If so, what were the reasons?
In addition to the account I narrated earlier, I worked with two 16 yearold academy players in 2010 who also disappeared. They were desperate for opportunities in Europe (despite FIFA regulations clearly forbidding the transfer of players under the age of 18 outside their home countries) and decided to find someone who could do that for them. This has continued to be a big problem with young talents in Africa.
Having made a small financial investment and obviously an investment of my time, I agreed to terminate the contracts. I honestly have no interest in working with any player (or anyone else for that matter) if the relationship has been broken. As I mentioned earlier, the beauty of a relationship is that it has to be mutual and one where all parties enjoy working together. last i recall, one of the players is still fighting for unpaid wages from his previous (African) club while the other is in the Middle East searching for opportunities, having only ever played for clubs in his home country.
What have you done to advance the careers of your clients (players and clubs) off the field?
About 15 years ago, a good friend of mine and I decided to set up a company that would focus on assisting African players with their off-the-pitch activity. We discovered that many of them did very well on the pitch but did not know how to capitalise on that fame off the pitch. This limited their earning potential. They would then retire and, within a few years, be broke, and some even end up filing for bankruptcy. A lot of money earned by popular footballers is made off the pitch via endorsements, and this was what we intended to solve. Our first clients were two Ghanaian internationals as I mentioned earlier. It started off really well and our company helped broker deals with MTN Ghana. We set up charities for them in their hometowns. The plan was to encourage them and other football players to invest in their countries of birth, be it in health or in education, or in whatever they are passionate about – a way of giving back to the society. Unfortunately, my business partner and I had different views of how to move the business forward so the relationship broke. I am not sure
how much it advanced their career because that was not the main aim, but it showcased them not only as football players but also as humanitarians who had not forgotten their origin.
Simy Nwankwo, who I also work with, has a foundation, The Tochukwu Nwankwo Foundation (TNF), and we plan to do a lot of work through the foundation including educating young players about the STAR Project. I shall be talking more on the STAR project in my article which I titled Star Attitude. Watch this space!
Also, a few years ago whilst working with Asante Kotoko SC (Kotoko), a big club in Ghana, I introduced them to Sunderland AFC (SAFC) who were in the English Premier League (EPL) at the time. My intention was to create a technology exchange partnership between the two clubs which both had CEOs with great vision. SAFC had a few Ghanaian players in the team, and I thought it would be a great idea for SAFC to get a better understanding of where these players came from and the kind of training and development that was available to them whilst growing up. In turn, Kotoko would be able to tap into some of the development and training techniques required to develop a player to EPL standards. A few meetings later, a partnership agreement was drawn up and the two clubs started working together. I took the Kotoko contingent, led by Dr K. K. Sarpong, to meet Niall Quinn in Sunderland and they hosted us well. Niall also came to Ghana at a future date and met up with some of the Kotoko administration. It was one of my proudest moments in football seeing Kotoko’s logo flashing around the Stadium of Light during an EPL match. Kotoko fans were also tripping with excitement on social media. Real job satisfaction!
What do you enjoy most about working with players?
I love a good ‘rags to riches’ story and this is not just where football players are concerned. When I compare my days at the university to now, I thank God for how far he’s brought me. It’s such a beautiful thing to discover the use of my talent and hard work to legally achieve great things and go from not having a lot to having a lot. Honestly, if you had a hand in that journey, it’s a wonderful feeling. I love reading autobiographies about some of the most successful people in the world today and how they started life from poor homes and on the rough streets of their countries but defied all odds to become who they are. Such an inspiration!
What would bring me joy is seeing the players I work with get good clubs in big leagues, represent their countries at senior level, make enough money to change their lives and the lives of their families, but most importantly, I want them to be happy!
What are some of your memorable moments in football?
Oh my! There are soooo many. Errrm, in Year 10, as part of the curriculum, we all had to go out to get some work experience in an industry for two weeks. Some of my classmates who wanted to be teachers were given opportunities in schools and those who wanted to be doctors were sent to hospitals, etc. I wanted to be a forensic detective (don’t laugh!). I think I caused the school some headache trying to find a placement for me where they could guarantee my safety. Unfortunately, that failed, but in a weird twist of fate, they said there was an opportunity to work at Leeds United Football Club. I wasn’t impressed but I had no choice. What an amazing experience it ended up being! I knew very little about football at the time and couldn’t even name one football player, but I loved interacting with the fans and customers. I met some footballers but do not remember all their names now. They gave me a signed football which I still have and it’s still in pretty good shape. That was a memorable experience possibly because I was working, and I felt like a big girl.
Another memorable experience happened in 2019 when Arago Jamal who played in Kosovo at the time said he wanted to spoil me and fly me over to watch his final match. He arranged the flight tickets and arranged a room in a beautiful hotel where the players were camping. He also sorted all my logistics. I was there for three days. I watched the match, had a couple of meetings with the club president and then flew to another meeting in Italy.
When I was leaving, unbeknown to me, he snuck some ‘pocket money’ into my bag, lol. I was very touched by the gesture.
However, there is one memory that has never left me despite it happened many years ago. I was contracted by a German NGO who worked on a project called WASH United. WASH stands for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. They basically used football players to promote water, sanitation, and hygiene in Africa. The NGO wanted me to ‘recruit’ some African football players onto the project. I thought it was a brilliant project so I spoke to my contact at Chelsea to see if Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou would be up for it. The Germans also made a special request to throw Michael Ballack into the mix. Fortunately, they all said yes, so the Germans booked a flight to London, and we went to the Chelsea FC Cobham Training Ground to shoot. I already knew Salomon and had met him a few times before, but that was my first time of meeting Didier in person. He shook my hand and said, ‘Hi, I’m Didier’, and I just looked at him, melted and smiled. I can’t even tell whether I remembered to mention my name. But I remember thinking, ‘Heeellllooooo, everyone knows you are Didier’. It honestly gave me that next level of respect for him. He could have taken the arrogant approach and walked around like ‘I am Didier Drogba, and everyone should know who I am’, but he didn’t. Such a gesture really humbles one. I never forget it! As big as he was then, yet he was so humble. The Germans didn’t quite like Ballack. They said he wasn’t nice, ha ha. They spoke in German, so I didn’t really know what they talked about! It was a shame because they were really looking forward to meeting him and it was such an anti-climax for them. As for Michael Essien, he ducked and dived all afternoon, so we just left him out. We also travelled to Ghana and got some shots of Asamoah Gyan for the project.
What do you think would be most surprising to find out about you?
You may be surprised to know that I am a die-hard Blackberry fan (yes! old school) and owned one up until recently when my Key2 Red Edition fell on my kitchen floor, and the screen smashed. I saw it falling but couldn’t do anything to stop it. I actually keep seeing it play back in slow motion, ha ha. After that, it just kept blinking and wouldn’t cooperate. It would do things like open up Instagram when I click on the Halifax Bank app. My insurance company was like, ‘you know we can’t give you another Blackberry, right?’ I wasn’t surprised! There is only one other person I know that still uses a Blackberry. Anyway, I had to think of an alternative and it was a toss-up between a Samsung and an iPhone, and iPhone won solely because I have other apple products. So, I reluctantly own my first iPhone and although we have fallen out a few times, we are slowly bonding.
What do you do with your free time? How do you unwind, deal with stress and big challenges?
Life is full of challenges, and with those come stress, and we must accept that it is part of life. There are different ways of dealing with challenges and stress depending on what they are and what is causing them. However, there is good stress that keeps you motivated and pushes you to that next level in life or in your career, and then there is the bad stress that causes ill health. If you imagine an elastic band and you imagine applying stress on it by pulling it apart and releasing it repeatedly. That is how I see life. Stresses come and go. However, if you pull the elastic band until it snaps, that is when the stress applied is so overwhelming and we must be mindful of when the stress in our lives reaches that point. To deal with big challenges, I break them down into smaller chunks of challenges and tackle them one at a time. To de-stress and unwind, I go for walks and listen to music. I enjoy a variety of
genre depending on my mood. I also detach myself from whatever causes stress. I have left WhatsApp groups and blocked people that I felt were having an adverse effect on my mental health, and I found it extremely therapeutic, ha ha. I also love travelling, although my last trip to Gibraltar came with its own wahala (trouble) due to COVID protocol.
Have you ever played football?
Errm, no! It wouldn’t have been anatomically possible. Go figure! Ha ha.
Are there any people you look up to or admire in the industry?
I admire Isha Johansen, the former FA President of Sierra Leone and Fatma Samoura, the current FIFA Secretary-General respectively. I see them as powerful women who are making a mark in a very tough industry. I know what I go through in my own small corner as a female in the industry so I can only imagine the challenges they faced to get to where they are and continue to face. I also admire Dr Kofi Amoah who was the normalisation chairman (or temporary Ghana FA president) after a corruption scandal brought down Ghana football. He is one of my current mentors and is always on hand for advice and encouragement. I met him in 2007 on my first trip to Ghana. At the time, he was the chairman of the local organising committee of the African Cup of Nations that was held in Ghana in 2008. I returned to Ghana for the tournament at the beginning of 2008 and was so impressed with the way he handled such a huge task. I was like ‘I want me some of that.’ We’ve been good friends ever since. Mel Stein, who was Paul Gascoigne’s agent for many years is a mentor in another industry. I also have other non-football mentors that offer support like Hon. Akin Alabi and Illbliss (aka Oga Boss) who are childhood friends, and DJ Abass. What is most important isn’t the industry in which they are or how old they are but the positive role modelling they play and the right attitude and business acumen they possess to help navigate through life. You must be ready to listen to things you may not want to hear, and as long as you know that you have chosen the right peonership is only sweet when there are willing participants’. If I feel like a pest, or that they don’t feel obliged to communicate with me then it won’t work. I remember mentioning the same thing in an online conference I attended. The interview talked about how women in the industry never seemed to want to help other women. When she was going through a tough time, it was her male colleagues that were there for her, whereas the women just wanted to stay on the side lines and sling mud. Isha and Fatma are two people I would love to be mentored by due to their vast knowledge and experience in the industry. They also have some interesting stories. I have asked one of my mentors to connect me to Fatma and he has promised to do so, so watch this space.
What are your future aspirations?
Would you believe that there was a point in time when I harboured a dream of becoming the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) president? I believed (and still believe) that I had a lot to offer. That was when I discovered Isha through some online research. I remember thinking if she could do it, then I am sure I could give it a good shot. However, doing more research around football administration in Nigeria, I decided to let that dream die, ha ha. I am happy to continue to do my small bit on the side. As long as I am impacting lives and making a difference, that’s all that matters to me. In addition to football, I am also working on a few other projects which I am really enjoying.
ple, then you know they are doing it for your growth and development. I remember one of my mentors in Ghana asking me whether I come to Ghana to do business or charity (ouch)! It was a valid question. He could see that I was working so hard but never had anything to show for it apart from a smile! I was working with players where I got engulfed with all their personal issues as well as their family issues. If anyone had his mum being taken to hospital and there was no money, he would call me. If parents couldn’t afford the fees for their siblings, they’d call me. I even had an incident where the father of one of the players I was working with called to inform me that there was a bulldozer outside their house about to bring down the house, so they needed somewhere to go. When I probed further, he stated that he had been given six months prior notice. You can see why it is painful when a player (after you’ve taken him to a certain level) gets up and decides to work with another agent who immediately starts reaping from where you have been sowing.
How come you don’t have any female mentors?
Great question! The only answer I can give here is that I have tried to engage with a couple of females, but it’s been a challenge. There was one lady that I kind of started to communicate with and then it stopped, and the last thing I will ever do is become a bugaboo. Going back to a comment I have made before if not once, maybe twice, ‘a relationship or part-
