By Jacob Ajom
Over the years, football has witnessed tremendous followership in Nigeria but its development has unfortunately remained static.

Pioneers of the game in Nigeria talk about ‘those glorious days,’ but are in difficulty finding words to describe the texture and level the game has attained in the present dispensation. To most of them, “nothing is going on today, in fact, plainly put, “no football is being played in Nigeria today.” Can you fault them!

One of the living legends of the old order, Paul Hamilton, a.k.a. Wonder Boy, who graced many a football turf from the late fifties to the early seventies talks with nostalgia about the good old days. Looking trim and fit- for his age, Hamilton said he grew up in Onitsha, present day Anambra state, where he started his football career.

He told his story with relish, “I came to Lagos to join Electricity Corporation of Nigeria Football Club (ECN). The two biggest and most popular clubs in Lagos then, were ECN and Stationery Stores FC. I played for ECN and one week after my arrival in the club, I was invited to the national team.”
Hamilton had very memorable moments playing for both club and country, as he recalled.

“The 1965 Lagos FA Cup final between Stores and ECN remains one of my most memorable matches in my club career. Whenever these two clubs were playing, the entire Lagos was in frenzy. If you were in the mainland and planned to go to Lagos and you had not crossed the Carter Bridge by 12 noon, then forget it, because you can  not get into Lagos again as the whole road would have been blocked by human and vehicular traffic. People were climbing through the British High Commission, some through other areas leading to King George 1V Stadium (now Onikan Stadium)”

On that fateful day of the 1965 FA Cup final, Hamilton was in the tick of action for his club. He recalled, “Stores opened scores and their supporters went wild. The game was suspended for a few minutes as Stores fans had become uncontrollable.

“When the match eventually restarted, we started with renewed vigour. I collected a pass calmly from our right full back, Sunday Ekume, I moved forward, then I saw a Stores’ defender(Bosah)  rushing towards me, I trapped the ball, then swerved and sold him a dummy and he went a different way.

On seeing that Bosah was out of my way, the goalkeeper rushed towards me, he was now at my mercy. He surged forward and I tipped the ball over his head and started running towards the centre circle, jubilating. Until the ball rested in the net Stores’ supporters were wondering why I was jubilating. When our supporters realised it was a goal, they went wild and the ovation was rapturous.

They were shouting and dancing, stamping their feet on the stands. Suddenly something happened. As the ECN supporters were jubilating, their weight caused that side of the stadium to go down. It collapsed but more importantly, ECN went ahead to win the game.”

Hamilton’s surjourn with the national team saw him travel far and wide. One of those trips he will ever live to cherish was the 1968 Olympics. “As a national team player, the Mexico Olympics remains my best moment.” He remembers with great fondness how the Nigerian team raised hopes back home with encouraging results in the pre-Olympic build up matches.

“We played 1-1 with the then Olympic defending champions, Hungary during the training tour. We also beat Thailand 7-1 and the Nigerian who was outstanding in that match was Agbhoghovbia who scored a record seven goals in the match. He was such a huge man and goalkeepers feared his shots. The Thai keeper was definitely jittery and was changed before the end of the match.”

The 1968 Olympic team had the likes of Peter Fregene, Igwe, Sebastine Broderick, Anieke, Hamilton, Oshode among others. When the Olympic Games started, Nigeria lost to both Spain and Japan but were held 3-3 by Brazil. “In that match, we led Brazil 3-0 at half time but they rallied round to equalise before the end of the encounter.”

It was however an irony for Hamilton as he returned with an knee injury from the Mexico Games. He recovered and continued playing for the national team till 1974 when he retired.

He also has his remarkable moments as a coach. “As a coach, I would say my biggest joy was derived from the bronze the Flying Eagles won at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Moscow because we beat the hosts, Russia to win that bronze. It remains indelible in my memory.”
Reviewing the standard of play and administration of the game in present day Nigeria, the soccer tactician sighed. “We have never had it so bad,” he started. “We are experiencing our lowest period in football. In our days, patriotism was literally hanging around our necks. From the administrators to the players, athletes. Everybody was getting his dues but now that things appear to be better in terms of economy and technology, people are crying.

“It was never like this. In those days, chairmen of FA were nominated. We never knew whether there were elections. Everything was done so smoothly without rancour.

Those who headed the FA then were comfortable people who were gainfully employed. You hear of chief justices, attorney-generals, etc. You never heard of embezzlement or diversion of money meant for players into their pockets. Today, the story is different. So much intrigues and the man-know-man syndrome. I pray we return to the way things were done in the good old days.