6th March, 2015
Nigerian West Brom of England, Brown Ideye has revealed how his mother cried when she learnt of his first contract with a Switzerland club.
Having left home at 16 to pursue football against his mom’s wishes, Ideye is thankful he can smile now. So much so he is able to give a highly animated impression of her watching him play for West Brom.
“It’s hard growing up in Lagos,” he says in an interview with Daily Mail. “There is always a story to tell in a city like that. My friends were involved in crazy stuff. They were bad boys of the area. I was picked up once by the police.
“My mum stopped me going out with them. She was upset. Each time I told her I wanted to play football she would say, “No you’re going to be with your friends”.’
Ideye was sent to live with his aunt but eventually ran away to train with his old coach and finally told his mum he wanted to make a 200-mile trip to Bayelsa State to play regularly. ‘She didn’t accept. That’s how I left. I went to Bayelsa State then Ocean Boys. Then bam, bam, bam.’
The bams are Neuchatel Xamax in Switzerland, Sochaux in France, and Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine, where he scored 33 goals in 74 games and earned most of his 24 Nigeria caps.
Once he had signed professional forms, Ideye patched up his relationship with his mom. Tears flowed. ‘When I got the contract in Switzerland I went back home, sat with my family and had breakfast, dinner, lunch, everyone happy.
“Afterwards she called me into her room and said, “I’m sorry about everything, your dad is late and I am the only person who can guide you. I looked at what your friends were doing and believed if I left you that is how you’d become.” I said, “I get that.” She started crying. She could not believe she tried to stop me becoming what she is enjoying today.”