Two Italy-based former footballers, Friday Ikechukwu Ebeye and his younger brother, Timothy Ebeye as well as their childhood friend, David Opeyemi, who is now in Northern Cyprus, have come together to float a youth football competition at their roots in Amuwo-Odofin/Ijeshatedo axis of Lagos.
The competition, which will hold under the tag FRITISH Football Championship, is billed to be organized by their youth days’ coach, Omoette Athan (aka Coach Lapa) at Olympic Field, near the headquarters of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Church.
While Coach Athan will also serve as chairman of the competition’s organizing committee, the youth developer, who handled the Ebeye brothers alongside Opeyemi (aka Shola Garber) during their days together at Mighty Starlet FC of Ijesha, will work together with the able trio of Emeka Uzegbu (secretary), Rasheed Tella and Chinedu Edum towards a successful event.
A total of eight teams have already been confirmed for participation in the competition, which is tentatively billed to run from 5th to 17th April, under the aegis of FRITISH Sports International, in conjunction with Amuwo Odofin Football Coaches Council.
The teams already confirmed for the competition are Mighty Starlet of Amuwo Odofin, SC Heritage of Ojo, Golden Potters of Amuwo Odofin, Super Angels of Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Ade FC of Mushin, Young Starlet of Amuwo Odofin, Nollywood FC of Surulere and Samba Boys FC of Iba.
All this is much to the delight and satisfaction of the three sponsors, who Friday Ebeye disclosed are happy with the build-up so far gained and awareness generated heading into the pioneering competition, which he enthused will set new standards in the discovery of hidden talents.
The older Ebeye, who is fondly called ‘King’ by his pals, revealed that FRITISH is an abbreviation for ‘Fascinated, Respect, Intelligence, Truth, Inventive, Spirited, Honour,’ then added firmly that he and his younger brother, Timothy, as well as Opeyemi feel duty-bound to put something back into the ever-bursting and fast-developing community that produced them.
The former dazzler at National Grassroots Dream Team in Surulere area of Lagos, who is also fondly called ‘Ijapa’ by his close associates, thanked Coach Athan and ‘Coach Yellow’ for aiding his progress through the backstreets in the environs of Ijeshatedo, where he made his mark with Starlet FC and Mighty Rovers.
After starring for a number of modest clubs in Italy and Eastern Europe, Ebeye is now working at a cosmetics company in The Land of The Azzurri, under the banner of DNG Group, but he insists that the aura of football will continue running through his veins and forever stay on his mind.
That has spurred nostalgia for the stocky lad about grassroots football back home in Nigeria and an effort in charity is coming from the ex-player, who starred for Young Stars of Satellite Town, Lagos before going abroad.
After stepping beyond the borders of Nigeria, he first played for FK Mogren of Montenegro, then moved on to ply his trade with FK Borac Cacak and Andria Bat of Serbia as well as AC Mantova Calcio and US Tolentino Calcio of Italy among many others, in an itinerary that included several modest teams in the lower divisions and regional leagues across the Italian peninsula.
His younger brother, Timothy Ebeye, had a similar progression, as the soft-spoken lad, who also now works at DNG Group Cosmetics, also lined out for Starlets, Mighty Roves and Young Stars as well as the intermediate squad of National Grassroots Dream Team in his early days.
Timothy Ebeye went on to hit top marks on all levels, including being part of the Grassroots’ squad’s gold medalists at Sango-Otta Cup in Ogun State, silver-winning team at Nike Cup in Lagos and bronze side at Upper Austria Cup before also stepping overseas to link forces with AC Cittadella Calcio, Luzzara Calcio and Sarone Calcio all in Italy.
Dramatically, though now both based in Italy, where they made their biggest marks in the round leather game, the Ebeye brothers have not in any way forgotten their childhood buddy, David Opeyemi, in spite of his current presence several nautical miles away from them in Northern Cyprus, where he is still playing active football.
After cutting his teeth playing with Starlets, Mighty Rovers and National Grassroots Dream Team in Lagos, ‘Garber’ starred for GeclikGucu Spor Klub in the city of Lefkosa for three seasons, before moving on to Alsancak Yesilova Spor Klub in Girme and he is at present on the cards of Hamitkoy Spor Klub of Lefkosa in the Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The three jolly good friends have now dusted memories of sweet old times and come together on another progressive level of amity, to launch what promises to be a huge gathering of the next generation of talents and budding stars in the Amuwo/Ijeshatedo axis.
However, Coach Athan has gone several steps further by involving clubs from far-flung points across the Ojo, Alimosho and Surulere localities to add reach, quality, value, followership and credibility to the competition, which he equally believes will leave a huge example on the sands of time for other products of the community to emulate in days to come.
Those efforts and target have already set a tingle of delight and excitement running through the veins of Friday Ebeye, who admitted that he looks forward towards getting a regular update of information about the matches and results when he action eventually begins, while expressing a strong desire to be physically present when the final comes up on April 17.
Ebeye enthused: “The three of us believe we owe so much to the coaches, friends and people of the community in which we grew up. They all helped us become what we are today, and that is really why we thought it wise to put something back into that community.
“That is why we decided to gather some money from what we have been able to save, it’s not a lot, though, but all three of us have sacrificed ourselves in order to send this token home to our coach to help us organize this competition at the base where all of us once played the game.
“We hope that this competition will not only bring excitement to the community and make our coaches happy, but that it would also serve as a an avenue through which some new talents will be discovered and hey would have their own fair share of opportunities to start growing and one day become celebrated football stars for Nigeria, both at home and abroad.”
