Former Green Eagles and Shooting Stars goalkeeper, Raymond King, tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI that after losing the African Club Champions Cup final to Zamalek, Lekan Salami rewarded him with N200 and that Zamalek tried to buy him over before the matchLife was splendid for a young Raymond King in the 70s and 80s. He was a flamboyant school boy striker at Seventh Day Adventist School, Lagos and at St. Finbars College, Akoka. But it did not take long before coach Mike Palagu discovered something great in him.He could talk fast, do things with ease and convince his mates that he could do what seemed impossible; even when he couldnt. In one of those events, he convinced his primary school coach that he was a better goalkeeper than the first choice even though he had never kept the goal before. From scoring goals, he then started a career in minding goals.King later became one of the Nigerias finest goalkeepers, who made name with great Nigerian clubs and the national teams. He did follow in the footsteps of another great, Peter Rufai, moving abroad to play professional football and make good saving for the future. But tragedy struck too soon during a quick dash home to see his family and friends. Before then, however, he had a sweet memory of his earliest days between the sticks.Coach (Mike) Palagu made me understand that I could be a great goalkeeper at St. Finbars. After my secondary school education,I joined Wema Bank FC and even though I was the youngest of the players, I played regular football. The coach just loved me and decided to make me his first choice goalkeeper. I loved the challenge because it was like fun to me, he begins.What seemed to be mere fun to him was not to scouts who picked players for the national team at the time; they were serious about nurturing his skill. In 1979, he was invited to the Flying Eagles, which was the beginning of more recognition of his prowess. But he had a major obstacle in beating another up-and-coming hero when the call came from the Green Eagles in 1981.He says, After my Flying Eagles experience, I was invited to the Green Eagles in 1981. Best Ogedegbe and Emmanuel Okala were gradually leaving the national team at the time, leaving the fight for the first choice goalkeeper to Eta Igbe from Calabar Rovers, Peter Rufai from Stationery Stores and I.I was at Julius Berger at the time, but I am still convinced till today that I was a better goalkeeper than the other two, who are my great friends. Rufai had the upper hand; he is the son of a king in Lagos and he was the goalkeeper of the best Nigerian club at the time. Stores were doing well in the league, the FA Cup and the Africa Cup Winners Cup. So it was not a surprise that Rufai was chosen by the coach.As I always say, I am not envious of him, he is my friend and I respect his achievement. But Rufai knew at the time that I did not allow him to sleep with his two eyes closed. It takes a man of honour to accept that and I am sure Rufai is a man of honour. We were all between 21 and 22 years but we were playing beyond our age, which is something we no longer have today in Nigeria.Rufai excelled with the national team, while King became a local hero for clubs like Abiola Babes in 1983 and 1985, Shooting Stars in 1984 and Leventis United in 1986. These were the best Nigerian clubs of the era. But it was at Shooting Stars that he became a star of African football and the name cat was added to his name. He was also called a stubborn player. He said they were rather compliments than criticism.To make it as a goalkeeper, you have to be stubborn, aggressive, take risks and see beyond others. They were features I combined in those days but most importantly, I could leap to an unimaginable height, which was why they called me cat, he recalled.In the year that he joined the club, he became the first choice and helped them reach the final of the African Club Champions Cup (now CAF Champions League), losing out to Zamalek of Egypt. He reflected on the loss and spoke on two post-events that he said he had kept to himself for so long.He says, My days in Shooting Stars were eventful, but I always remember with mixed feelings our campaign in the Champions Cup. The way we lost to Zamalek in the final was painful, but reaching that stage was an act of bravery for a club nobody gave a chance.We had beaten Tonnere Kalala 4-0 in the round that preceded the quarterfinals in Ibadan. We were convinced that it was a good score, but they laughed it off and said we would be beaten 6-0 in the return leg in Yaounde. I thought it was impossible but it almost happened. They used every trick in the game to cancel the four goals. When it was 3-0, the referee was looking for every means to award a penalty to them so when a striker knocked me down and I was unconscious for several minutes, he still awarded a penalty to them to make if 4-4 on aggregate score. But we won 5-4 on penalties. That was a match I would never forget.But the final was also special because we trailed 2-0 from the first leg score in Cairo. Zamalek knew they would find it difficult to stop us from cancelling the deficit in Nigeria because of the fantastic home record we had. I was confident of lifting the cup like any other player of the club. But we played in Lagos instead of the Liberty Stadium (now Obafemi Awolowo Stadium) we were used to.The own goal scored by Ogbein Fawole ended our dreams of lifting the cup. It was not his fault. Our defence was under pressure and as he tried to reach for the ball, he slipped but recovered quickly. As he slipped, I came out to help him out by picking the ball, which was still in flight. His recovery was out of courage and determination and as he did, he headed the ball pass me into the net.That was the goal that ended his dream of lifting a prestigious club trophy but his two revelations were shocking. After the first leg in Cairo, Zamalek offered him a contract to join them. In fact, they wanted him to ditch Shooting Stars immediately and rule himself out of the second leg.He says Rashidi Yekini was in the same room with me and I showed him the papers. He asked if I would honour it and I said I would consider it after the second leg. Within myself, I saw an opportunity but my loyalty to Shooting came first. I told myself that if we could win the cup, I would join them in Egypt, but after the loss in the second leg, it would be stupid of me to move to Zamalek. The loss was a painful one for Nigeria and I would be accused of selling out if I had joined Zamalek. So I acted for the sake of my integrity and pride of my nation.That was the first revelation. The second was a reward he got from the late Chief Lekan Salami, who was the biggest backer of the club at the time.After reviewing the goal, he called me and thanked me for doing so well. Then he gave me N200 which was far bigger than my allowances. I thought if it was proper to be paid for losing a cup, but he encouraged me to see it from the positive angle. We reached the final and so many things went wrong before the match. So I moved on, adds King.That was not his only loss, however. Six years after the event, King had moved to higher terrain in his career, playing for Tonnere Kalala of Cameroon in 1989 before moving to Greece in 1990. Not long after the Greece move, he came home to see the family he had left for so long and as he stepped into fatherland, the unfortunate happened.When I was playing for Aris Sportif of Salonika in Greece, I came home briefly in 1990 to visit my family but on the day I arrived in Nigeria, I was attacked by armed robbers outside the airport in Lagos. They took my passport away and robbed me of $5,000 also. I lost everything on me and I was devastated.I could not return to Greece without a passport and while I was looking for a way out, my contract expired. So I joined Lisabi Warriors for eight months and retired. What happened was a big blow to me and I could not continue. There was nobody to help me, I was financially down and frustrated, I had nothing to live on. I am the son of Okon Willie King in Akwa Ibom State and because of the way I was raised, I could not be a burden to anybody so I stepped over to the next phase of my life.His adopted home, Abeokuta, received him with both hands. Earlier before the sad phase of his life unfolded, an event that would later form the bedrock of his recovery from the fall had spread out.He says I am sure many people do not know that I am from Akwa Ibom. I speak fluent Yoruba because I was born and raised in Yorubaland. I have adopted Yoruba as my race after Alake of Egbaland pronounced me as citizen of Gbagura in Abeokuta. I am from the family of the late MKO Abiola. I have spent all life in Yorubaland and I understand the culture.Abiola was a father to me. He was a loving person who fought for the masses because of what he achieved and how he shared his wealth with the people. As a player of Abiola Babes, I enjoyed everything.Now a goalkeeper trainer with Gateway FC of Abeokuta, he recalled that his first coming to the club was marred by the misconception that the former Ogun State Sports Commissioner, Bukola Olopade, had about him.Olopade is a person I respect so much. He had a good relationship with us at the club early but along the line, he listened to some people who misled him. Human beings are very vulnerable, so I have forgiven him for whatever he must have done against me. That was when the club started having problems and later dropped to the National Division One.
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