For the sake of full disclosure, I am an Arsenal fan. I fell in love with the team in 1989 following their dramatic 2-0 win over Liverpool on the last day of the season, which clinched the title for the north London side. Arsenal needed to win by two clear goals to achieve the feat, and a last minute goal by Michael Thomas did just that. This was in the old first division. Back then, I was in school in Jos, Nigeria and didn’t watch the game live or on TV – just a rerun a few days later.
With the advent of the Premier League under three years later, and cable TV arriving around the same time beaming live matches to TVs across Africa, a whole continent was mesmerised. Top quality players plied their trade in living rooms and bars across Africa.
Michael Thomas, who scored that winning goal for Arsenal, was a black Englishman and, if I am honest, that might have resonated with me as well. There weren’t many black players in the English top flight at the time but, as we all know, that was about to change.
Ex-Zimbabwe international, Peter Ndlovu, was the first African to play in the then newly-created Premier League. Ndlovu was a prolific striker who was already on the books of Coventry City when the Premier League was created. Daniel ‘The Bull’ Amokachi was the first Nigerian to join the PL. After a very successful World Cup in 1994 in the USA, he transferred to Everton from Club Brugge in Belgium.
But the first real African superstar in The League was Ghana’s Anthony Yeboah. Joining Leeds in 1995, Yeboah gained a reputation for scoring spectacular goals, which often featured in Goal of the Month or Goal of the Season competitions, celebrated by wagging his index finger towards the crowd.
Between Yeboah and Amokachi, they showed clubs the power and prowess African players brought to the game. When Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger signed Nwankwo Kanu in 1999, he showcased a different kind of African player to the world: tall and gangly but with the silkiest of footballing skills. Kanu was a favourite of Arsenal fans and the envy of others – no bias here of course.
Since those early years, African players have lit up the Premier league. The likes of Jay-Jay Okocha from Nigeria (so good his mama named him twice) and Michael Essien of Ghana. Or who can ever forget the great South Africa defender that was Lucas Radebe? The Ivory Coast brothers Yaya and KoloTouré and the greatest African to lace his boots in the Premier League, Didier Drogba?
I have concentrated on the Premier League, but all over the world’s major leagues African players have become a brand of their own.
Look at Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, one of the world’s most prolific goal scorers ever. In his five seasons at Barcelona, he scored an average of 25 goals per season. Ghana defender Sammy Kuffour consistently put in some of the best defensive performances in the Bundesliga whilst at Bayern Munich. And, thirteen years after he hung up his boots following a career that saw him play for Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Milan, Chelsea, Manchester City and Marseille, Liberia’s George Weah is still regarded as the best Africa footballer ever. He remains the only African to be voted World Footballer of the Year.
One can argue that the African Renaissance the world is witnessing today owes a great deal to the continent’s footballers. For the last two and a half decades, they have shone like bright stars in the world’s most popular sports arenas. They have become not only sports stars, but cultural and political icons. In 2005, while a brutal civil war was raging in his country, Didier Drogba called for a ceasefire and both sides obliged him. Weah is now one of the most respected political figures in Liberia. Many others have set up foundations to help the under privileged across Africa, and these charities keep the players’ names in the public view.
The BBC African Footballer of the Year award was set up to do just that – make sure that African players are recognised for their hard work. The fact this is the only award of its kind voted for by the fans, ensures that football’s Brand Africa is alive and well.
Tune in to BBC World News from 1010 GMT on Saturday 14th November or BBC World Service radio from 1006 GMT to hear who is on this year’s BBC African Footballer of the Year shortlist. Social media users can stay up to date with the competition by searching #BBCAFOTY and follow live text commentary of the award on the BBC Sport website.
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