Sierra Leone
HOW WEST AFRICA IS TURNING BLUE
MANCHESTER CITY IN SIERRA LEONE
In the autumn of 2003 a member of Reddish Branch of the CSA completed 30 years as a police officer in Manchester and retired. He then started working in Sierra Leone in West Africa, where his job was to train detectives out there to investigate child abuse.
Sierra Leone has for the past several years been either last, or second to last in the world wealth league tables published every year. Average life expectancy is around 38 years and living conditions for most people are appalling. On top of all these problems the country has gone through a particularly bloody civil war that lasted 11 years and only ended in 2000.
This was an all too common sight during the war
When he arrived in Freetown, the capital city, Tony noticed the usual scattering of people wearing Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United shirts. It soon became apparent that football is massive in the country and most people follow the English Premier League. At the end of his first week he was enjoying a beer at a beach bar when a young man approached him by the name of Armani Sheku KAMARA who was selling watches, sunglasses etc. He noticed that he was wearing a Manchester United lapel badge. As Tony is a dyed in the wool blue he joked with the young man that he could not buy any of his merchandise from a man wearing and Man United badge. Within a short time he agreed to throw the offending item into the Atlantic Ocean and negotiations commenced. It soon became apparent that not only did he have a good knowledge of Premier League football he also had a good knowledge of the ups and downs of Manchester City. He assured Tony that he was only wearing the United badge because a customer had given it to him and he promised him that if I could get him a City shirt he would be a City fan for the rest of his life. Little did he known what that conversation would lead to.
In early 2004 Tony returned to Sierra Leone having spent a few weeks back in Manchester, and of course took back with him a City shirt for Armani. Within a few days of receiving the shirt Armani told Tony that he was setting up a Man City Supporters Club in Freetown. When Tony next returned to UK he discussed the Sierra Leone situation, first with Howard Burr the Secretary of the Reddish Branch and then with Alex Channon the Chair of the C.S.A.. It was then that the Sierra Leone Branch of the Manchester City Centenary Supporters Association was born.
Armani seconds after getting his first City shirt.
On Tony’s next visit he was able to take back with him several dozen assorted City shirts donated by City fans over here. They proved very popular and soon were being seen all around the Freetown streets. Soon Armani had formed a Manchester City Football team in Freetown as well as a Junior Man City team. The problem was that they were wearing a red and white striped kit that they had to rent on a match-by-match basis. Following discussion with Lorraine Firth at Manchester City the club kindly donated a full kit for the team out there. The kit was taken out and the picture below shows the look of delight on the team’s faces when they first wore their new kit with pride.
The next phase of the project was that the C.S.A. decided that as a reward for his hard work Armani should visit the UK. They paid his airfare and he stayed at Tony’s house. This is a young man who comes from a hillside in the poorest part of the capital of the poorest country in the world.
This is the home ground of the youth team and yes the palm trees are within the pitch.
You can imagine his face when he first saw escalators trains and the like. He came to the UK in spring and we were all quite pleased with the improving temperatures, Armani thought he had come to Siberia. During his trip he was a guest of the club at a couple of games at the City of Manchester Stadium and was invited as a guest of honour at a supporter’s club dinner. Sat alongside the then City Manager Stuart Pierce he gave a speech about his country to around 200 guests. Many people were moved to tears about the description of his countries plight. The effect was that guests donated cash at the dinner to assist in the running of Armani’s two teams and yet more shirts were donated by guests to be taken out there. In total around 400 City shirts have been sent out there. During this visit Armani also visited two junior schools in Manchester where he gave a talk about his homeland.
Armani was also invited by the then club Chairman to watch the players train and the players themselves items of kit to be taken back with Armani. Getting Armani through check in at the airport with his excess baggage was a feat in itself, but when airline officials were told the story they were very helpful. Anyway Armani went back to his home land with many tales off the London Eye, stately homes and British pubs etc. as well as his many football stories.
We managed to repeat Armani’s trip over Christmas 2007 and again he was treated very well by supporters and the football club itself. The Phuket (Thailand) Branch of the C.S.A. paid for a full home and away kit for the team which again eventually was negotiated through baggage control.
Wherever Armani has gone in the UK he has been treated in a manner which makes us proud to be Mancuian and proud to be a City Fans.
Another recent development is that a Reddish Branch member donated a generator for the community where Armani lives allowing around 100 people to have electricity. The shipping of the generator was financed by C.S.A. funds with the blessing of its members.
Tony Griffiths last visited Sierra Leone in March 2007 and we were proud to hear of many men women and children wearing an array of City shirts around the capital and beyond. The football team formed such a short time ago is going from strength to strength and Armani is something of a local
celebrity who is frequently interviewed on national radio in Sierra Leone and works extremely hard to promote Man City for no financial reward.
On 23rd. November 2008 Man City Youth team appeared in the Sierra Leone F.A. Youth Cup final and WON.
Not bad for a team that did not exist 4 years ago.
