The Phensic cup victory of 1960

One of the greatest if not the greatest sports victory of Government Secondary School, Owerri – By Olisa Egwuatu in chat with Prof. Albert Nnoli.

It was a memorable and epic victory and one which Ogssians of that era speak of with extreme pride and nostalgia. It was a defining moment for our greet school and a ‘standing monument’ of our rich sporting legacy.

The 1960 Ogssian football team ably led by Prof Albert Okwudiba Nnoli was swashbuckling, scintillating and brilliant in their approach and style of soccer.

1960 PHENSIC FOOTBALL CUP WINNER

The team:

Nnoli Albert (Captain) 1953 Set
Anyanwu Jonathan 1953 set
Chijoke Lazarus 1954 set
Hart Arthur 1954 set
Achareke Benson 1954 Set
Umunna Clement 1954 Set
Tikili Bomo 1954 Set
Ibe Mike 1955 Set
Akwiwu Eliezar 1955 Set
William Henry 1956 Set
Okoro Okoro 1955 Set
MASTER IN CHARGE Mr N.J Udoiwood

THE 1960 TEAM: NICKNAMES AND POSITIONS

Albert Nnoli: Nicknamed Embekay and Abdullahi (Only Bobby Loco called him that) played on the inside left position a switch from his normal inside right position: – Captain of the side. Hugely experienced, brilliant tactician and technically gifted. He could use both legs, solidly built, stocky with bowl legs and powerful.
Micheal Ibe:- alias Bobby Loco. Played at the inside- right position. The ‘smallish’ skillful dribbler was very comfortable on the ball.
Benson Acharaeke:- Classy left winger with precise crosses.
Henry Williams:- allias Willinco Centre-Forward and team penalty taker.
Clement Umunna:- Outside Right
Arthur Hart:- Goalkeeper
Lazarus Chijioke:- Right-full back
Tikili-Bomo:- Left-full back
Eliezer Akwiwu:- Central Defender. Rock of Defense
Jonathan Anyawu:- Right half back midfield
Okoro Okoro:- Central Defender

BACKGROUND AND PREPARATION

Hear Prof Albert Nnoli ‘Government Secondary School was not known for football’. The farthest we ever got was the quarter final. The phensic cup was the premier soccer competition among secondary schools in Eastern Nigeria. 1960 was the first time we got to the Final

Preparation: Prof Albert Nnoli “our secret was in our practice. We put so much hard work in our practices. We practised and also did physical training and we kept fit. We utilized the morning physical exercise sessions for our football training sessions. We did not join other students for the exercise but practised exclusively as a team. It was a ‘camp’. Again we also used the games period to practise as a group. The practices were sustained. Our games master Mr Udowood was hardly around, so I organized the practice sessions’.

‘We practised “Penalties” in every session. Every player practised penalties and it means that we had eleven penalty experts on the team. The practice system of our penalty taking was that we would tell the goal-keeper the side the ball would go and we invariably scored. That made every player to be adept at taking good penalties. Henry Williams was the best penalty taker’.

Greates Stregnth: –According to Prof Albert Nnoli who was the Captain and Player/Coach/Manager “Our team was talented but we played as a team. We had team cohesion and perfectly understood ourselves. We knew where each player would be at any point in time. We had no big star. Our team spirit and harmony was excellent and perfect. This team spirit was cultivated during our regular practice sessions, as a team, and that bonded us. “We had no coach but we coached ourselves. I benefited from my experience in the colts team and the football and cricket talks by Mr Chukwudebe during his classes”.

THE WATERSHED MATCH VS OUR LADY OF LOURDES FROM ONITSHA

“We defeated Hope Waddell Calabar 3-1 in the final to carry the cup in Port-Harcourt. We had defeated so many schools along the way.

Including Stella Maries College PH, Christ the King College (CKC) Onitsha. However our greatest feat was our 5-2 trouncing of Our Lady of Lourdes in the quarter-final match played at Enugu in front of a packed stadium. It was the watershed and the defining moment/match of our campaign.

After our victory, we knew we will win the cup. Our Lady’s were clear

favorites with a rich and proud footballing history and tradition. We were underdogs but we had a crack side and fifteen minutes into the game I knew we were the better side.

Albert Nnoli was and is an Enugu boy. He played for St Brigids in the Catholic Primary Schools Soccer Competition, so he was well known and popular. “The Enugu crowd rooted for us partly because I was a ‘home’ boy and partly because we played a brand of soccer that was mesmerizing and scintillating. “The crowd fell in love with us”. The sports council and soccer authorities supported us simply because we played good football.

Our school was dominating the match, playing good football and dictating the pace and at the end of the half we were two goals down. “We were playing well, and missed two penalties and conceded two goals against the run of play, we conceded two cheap goals with our defence not properly positioned.

“During the interval, we received a pep talk from sports council officials and we knew we would win the match. On resumption we scored four goals in thirty minutes and added one more to the pure delight of the supportive Enugu crowd.

PHENSIC CUP 1960

OWERRI GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOL
VS
OUR LADY’S HIGH SCHOOL ONITSHA QUARTER FINAL MATCH

BY PROFESSOR OKWUDIBA NNOLI

For the OGSS Phensic Cup team, the most challenging but glorious match of the Phensic Cup Tournament was the quarter final match against Our Lady’s High School Onitsha at the Enugu stadium. For the first time in the series we had a disadvantage going into the match, a psychological one. The opposing team was reputed to be one of the best in the Eastern Region if not the best. A lot of hype and praise followed it before the match that every pundit expected it to win. We were unknown. Worse still no one expected a Government College to seriously play football. To make matters worse the football Master told the team before the match that he dreamt that we lost the match. This revelation was morale-crushing. It was left to me to rally the boys as the Captain, oldest member of the team and the only School Prefect and House Captain in the team: “If we play as we do during practice, no team will beat us not even the Nigerian team.” Then the game started. After fifteen minutes of play it became clear to me that our team was technically and tactically superior, and that we would prevail.
The game was being played in the opponent’s half and we had won over the very large crowd in attendance. Nevertheless, by halftime we were two goals down, and our star striker and penalty taker, Willinco, (William) had missed two penalties.

The Principal, Mr. Erekosima, on our return severely scolded me for allowing Willinco to take the second penalty. It was clear that the team needed a pep talk.
I was greatly relieved when the legendary Dan Anyiam, the Eastern Regional Football Coach at the time, undertook to give the talk.
He praised the team profusely, especially our brand of football. According to him he had not seen football played so scientifically in Nigeria. Mr. Jerry Enyeazu, the Director of the Eastern Region Sports Council echoed the same sentiments. Practically the entire Sports Council officials, the Mayor of Enugu, Mr. Emehelu, the Chairman of Enugu Football Association Mr. Byron Onyeama and numerous other dignitaries stayed with us during the interval to encourage and cheer us up.

The psychological advantage shifted in our favor buoyed by the favor we had found with the crowd. Consequently, the second half was very different from the first. Within thirty minutes we had scored four goals. The momentum was equally with us. As was usual when we believed that we had a commanding lead I gave the go ahead to the team to “play”, meaning to entertain the crowd, play to the gallery.

The stadium erupted with cheers of eh eh eh eh as we teased and toyed with our increasingly demoralized opposition. Within five minutes of this scintillating and mesmerizing football Bobby Loko walked into the opponents’ net with the ball to make the score 5-2. The remaining ten minutes were spent entertaining the crowd to the fullest.
We had won the match and as far as I was concerned the Phensic Cup.