Capt. Donald Henry Holley: The man who assembled and managed Nigeria’s first Nigeria national football team on 26 June 1949

It is 73 years today 26 June that the Nigeria’s national football team was first composed. It was on this day in 1949 at the Labour Office in Lagos, 17 players were named as members of the International Group, a name given to Nigeria’s first national team preparatory to a proposed goodwill tour of the United Kingdom in August.

On the day Nigeria beat Guinea 1-0 to become the first team to advance to the knock-out stage of the 2019 Afcon in Egypt, the Nigerian team symbolically clocked 70. In a country where record-keeping is still a big challenge, the Platinum Jubilee of the  soccer team easily passed unnoticed, unmarked and uncelebrated, since the evolution and developments of the team are not documented.

The 18^th player was announced five days later at the Labour Office, where the then chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) Capt. Donald Henry Holley was also the chairman of the Labour Advisory Board.

Holley had worked tirelessly to see the formation of a Nigeria national team and also ensured they ventured abroad and thus became the first African and Afro set of players to have a tour of the United Kingdom.

Raising a Nigeria national team had been a long time dream of Holley who had lived in Nigeria for 24 years since 1925.  At the time, he called himself a Nigerian.

In one of the trial matches played by the selected side, against Lagos European team, the latter won the match. According to a newspaper account, when Holley got back home and announced the result to his wife, Dorothy, she exclaimed: “You mean the Europeans have beaten us.”

Holley at the send off party for the team held at the Island Club, Onikan on 11 August 1949, he sentimentally remarked: “This UK Tour is the end of my dream.”

It was largely through his efforts that Nigeria was able to send a team which he led to the United Kingdom and a £1,800 was made. By then he had become a commissioner of Labour.

“Some years ago, the idea of inviting the English Football Association to this country was mooted out. But when it was found impossible, they decided that if they didn’t come to them the Nigeria Football Association would go to England.

“This tour is the end of my dream”, said Captain Holley. He left Nigeria in July 1950, barely nine months after the famous UK tour. Six years later, he died in the UK in December 1956.

In 1955, Reginald Banham Allen, better known as Derby Allen who was then the secretary/treasurer of the NFA wrote that the NFA existed thanks to the generous donation  of the Lagos & District Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) of which Captain Donald Henry Holley, better known as Captain D.H Holley headed.  He later became the chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) and the manager of Nigeria’s first national team.

It was largely through his efforts that Nigeria was able to send a team which he led to the United Kingdom and a £1,800 was made. By then he had become a commissioner of Labour.

On 26 June 1949, he announced the names of Nigeria’s first national team. The players were: GOALKEEPERS – Sam Ibiam (Port Harcourt) and Isaac Akioye (Ibadan); DEFENDERS: Justin Onwudiwe, Olisa Chukwura (Abeokuta), Ahmed Tijani Ottun (Marine FC), Isiaku Shittu (Lagos UAC), John Dankaro (Jos), Hope Lawson (Marine FC), Dan Anyiam (Lagos UAC) FORWARDS: Francis Mesembe Otu (Marine FC), Peter Anieke (Railway), Sokari Dokubo (Railway) Edet Ebenezer (Port Harcourt), Godwin Anosike (Railway), Etim Henshaw (Marine), Tesilimi Balogun (Railway) and Titus Okere (Railway).

Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – June 27, 2022 General view of outside courts covered as rain stops play

The world’s most famous queue began streaming into the All England Club on Monday as the gates opened at the start of the 135th edition of the Wimbledon championships.

The quintessential English sight of thousands of tennis fans waiting patiently, often having camped overnight, to gain entry to the grounds has been missing since 2019.

OVID-19 put paid to Wimbledon in 2020 and last year the queue was scrapped on safety grounds as the tournament returned to semi-normality, albeit with restricted attendances and players based in secure hotel bubbles.

Although all that makes Wimbledon such a spectacle has returned, it is not quite business as usual despite the buzz around the grounds as the gates swung open at 0900GMT on a breezy morning in south west London.

For a start, Roger Federer, the king of the lawns with a record eight men’s singles titles, is absent for the first time since winning the junior event in 1998.

The 40-year-old Swiss is recovering from a knee injury and has not played since losing to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals a year ago.

Also missing is men’s world number one Daniil Medvedev after organisers banned Russian and Belarusian players in response to the invasion of Ukraine while women’s defending champion Ash Barty has retired.

The ban on Russians and Belarusians prompted the ATP and WTA to take away ranking points from Wimbledon this year.

Play is also scheduled for 14 days, rather than the traditional 13, with middle Sunday no longer a rest day, meaning the end of so-called Manic Monday when all the men’s and women’s fourth-round matches used to be played.

PLOT LINES

While the build-up to Wimbledon has been mired in controversy, there are enough plot lines to suggest the next fortnight could be a classic edition.

Serena Williams returns after a year out, gunning for the 24th Grand Slam singles title that has eluded her since 2017.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic was due to open play on Centre Court on Monday as he seeks to defend his title, win a 21st Grand Slam crown and close the gap on Rafa Nadal who has a record 22.

Spaniard Nadal is halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam after winning the Australian and French Opens.

Briton Emma Raducanu’s appearance is being billed as a “homecoming” after her extraordinary U.S. Open title win as a qualifier and the spotlight will be fully focused on the teenager when she faces Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck after Djokovic’s match against Kwon Soon-woo.

With the famous Centre Court celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the opening day has a very British flavour with twice former champion Andy Murray concluding the action against Australian James Duckworth.

Murray is one of 17 British players in the singles draws — the largest home contingent since 2001.

While the stage is set for a feast of tennis over the next two weeks, a rain shower half an hour after play started put a dampener on the early action.

Some things, it seems, never change.

The fourth referee indicating two minutes additional time, just before the goal was scored.

Following the uproar that followed the unusual added time in the Match Day 35 encounter of Katsina United and Remo Stars on Sunday, the League Management Committee (LMC) has come out with an explanation of the absurdity.

The home team won 3-2 with the winning goal being scored 34 minutes after the original regulation time.

The press statement issued by the LMC explained that following the second goal of Remo Stars which was scored in the the added time, the home team, Katsina United, held up the game and refused to restart.

Thereafter, there was encroachment on the field by the spectators which accounted for the unusual overtime.

But according to sources at the match, the fourth referee had indicated an added time of two minutes which was vividly captured on video camera. The goal was scored barely 30 seconds later.Video of the equalizing goal and fourth referee indicating ‘2’ minutes added time, just before the goal was scored

Katsina officials disputed the goal and the match was held up for close to 20 minutes. According to a retired Nigerian international referee, contacted by the Sports Village Square, a referee calls off a match after waiting for 15 minutes if a team refused to continue, especially on account of a disputed goal.

“If the remaining time for the match is not up to 15 minutes, the game is called off at the expiration of the remaining time”, said the retired FIFA-badged referee.

Should that had happened, the game, even when it restarted should have been played for just the remaining seconds of the added two minutes.

The full text of the LMC explanations reads:

“It has become necessary to correct the erroneous viral news of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) MatchDay 35 fixture in Katsina (Katsina Utd vs Remo Stars) played on Sunday June 26th 2022.

“Some social media accounts have been spreading information that the match between Katsina United and Remo Stars had over 30 minutes added time.

“This is not true. The match was disrupted by players of Katsina United who protested Remo Stars second equalising goal late in the game. In the process of the players contesting the Referees decision, there was  encroachment  on the field of play and it took some time before the encroachment was cleared and normalcy was restored.

“The goal stood and the match duly restarted to conclude the remaining added minutes. However, most of those commenting, including some Sports Journalists followed the match on online live game trackers such as Livescore, Betway, flashscore and it need be pointed out that these platforms hardly indicate that a game was inactive and most times leaves there match clock active through out the match.

“It is not possible for a Referee to allow 30 minutes of added time in a 45 minutes half. We appeal to fans and the media to always verify the information they share, especially such that are detrimental to the health of the brand.

“It will be recalled that on MatchDay 33 there was a similar incident in the match between Lobi Stars and Heartland which had several stoppages due to injuries and time wastage right from the first half. “The game was not conclude on time and the same internet websites/blogs reported the match as having 27minutes  added time which was totally not correct but also created similar confusion.

“Furthermore, it must be emphasized for the general public to note that only the Match Official is in charge of the official timing of a match and not any online websites/blogs. The LMC is therefore awaiting the official match reports on the encroachment at Katsina so as to take appropriate actions/sanctions on any party found to have erred pursuant to the stipulations of the NPFL framework and rules.”

Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare has been handed an extra one-year ban for additional doping violations to add to her existing 10-year suspension.

The Athletics Integrity Unit charged her with “evading sample collection, and tampering or attempted tampering with the doping control process”.

n February, the 33-year-old was handed her original ban for “multiple breaches of anti-doping rules”.

She was suspended  during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics after failing a drug test.

As a result of Okagbare’s additional ban, Nigeria has lost its potential qualification place in the women’s 4x100m relay at July’s World Championships in Oregon.

Six days after she evaded sample collection – on 13 June 2021 – she competed in the relay event at Nigeria’s Olympic trials, helping her team to qualify for the World Championships. However, all results involving Okagbare have now been disqualified.

“Over the years, we have repeatedly seen how one person’s actions adversely affect team-mates who have trained hard and worked honestly for their results,” AIU head Brett Clothier said in a statement.

“In this instance, Nigeria has lost an important qualification spot. Those are the rules and we will not compromise on integrity.”

Okagbare, the 2008 Olympic long jump silver medallist, was a medal contender for the women’s 100m in Tokyo last year and won her heat in 11.05 seconds.

But she was ruled out of the semi-finals after the AIU said she had tested positive for a human growth hormone following an out-of-competition test on 19 July.

The Nigeria Basketball Federation has released a 12-man roster for the third window of the FIBA African World Cup qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda between June 27 and July 5, 2022.

The team made up of Ikenna Ndugba (Greensboro Swarm, NBA G League), Uchenna Iroegbu (Free agent), Michael Okiki (Gombe Bulls), Ben Emelogu (Rouen Metropolitan, France), Michael Oriakhi (Rivers Hoopers), Michael Gbinijie (Santa Cruz Warriors, NBA G League) and Ibe Agu (Customs, Abuja) will be coached by Alan Major and assisted by Ogoh Odaudu.

Other players on the list are Chimezie Metu (Sacramento Kings), Victor Koko (Rivers Hoopers), Christian Mekowolu (Casademont Zaragoza, Spain), TK Edogi (Kolin, Czech Republic) and Emmanuel Omogbo (H.Izrael, Israel). NBBF President, Engr Musa Kida announced that Major will deputise for the team’s Head Coach, Mike Brown that just got named Coach of the Sacramento Kings.

Currently ranked first in Africa, Nigeria will open its campaign against Cape Verde on Friday, 1 July before taking on Mali on Saturday. The last game will be against Uganda on Sunday, 3 July at the BK arena in the capital city of Kigali. Nigeria sit atop group A with five points from three games.

During this window, 16 teams will compete for the second leg of matches earlier decided in November 2021 and March 2022. The top three teams from each group will advance to the second round where each team will play six games. The two top teams in each group, along with the best third-placed team, will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023