ANOTHER SHOOTING STAR PLAYER, JOE APPIAH, DIES
Tragedy has again befallen the Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC), Ibadan, as another former player, Joe Appiah, died Saturday morning, the same day that the eighth day fidau of another former ace of the club, the late Rashidi Yekini, held.
Appiah, a Ghanaian national, who was the right full back for the then IICC Shooting Stars in their victorious outing at the 1976 African Winners Cup, died after a protracted illness at the Joy Hospital, which is within 200 metres radius of the famous Obafemi Awolowo Stadium in Ibadan.
His age could not be ascertained. But a close friend put it about 64.
The sickness started after Appiah was laid off along with some other members of the technical crew some months ago. He had been with the Shooting Stars since coming to Nigeria from Ghana in the early 1970s.
He was among the nearly a dozen of Ghanaian footballers that migrated to Nigeria. They included Philip Boamah, Sam Saka Abosey, Kennedy Dappah, Leotis Boateng, Annas Ahmed among others. Even when Appiah's playing career ended, he remained with the Shooting Stars as a trainer and had been in charge of the feeder team. He is reported to have lost contact with his Ghanaian roots having lived almost his adult life in Ibadan and married to a Nigerian.
A confidant of the dead player said during Shooting Stars' last home match against Niger Tornadoes on Thursday that Appiah had remarked that he would die should he be laid off by the only club he served throughout his playing career in Nigeria. The sickness that led to his death began shortly after he was laid off without being paid his entitlements.
At the hospital last Thursday, he was more of a skeleton as Appiah had lost considerable weight to the point that he was barely recognisable.
It was reported that the current management of the Shooting Stars visited him last month and donated N500,000 towards his medical bill. The English coach of the African Winners Cup winning side, Alan Hawkes, in an interview conducted by Ayo Ademokoya, the author of a forthcoming book on Shooting Stars, described Appiah thus: '…he was a very quiet individual but very reliable as a full back. He was always prepared to make runs into the opponents half of the field when his team was attacking and an intelligent marking player in defence. He would be selected to play in any of my teams and he always did as he was told which some players are not very good at.'
His death has brought to seven the number of the 1976 squad that have passed on to the world beyond. Before him, Folorunsho Gambari (Gambus) had died in 1981 while Muda Lawal also died 10 years later. On the same day that Italy eliminated Nigeria from the 1994 World Cup in the USA, Kunle Awesu, the left wing wizard of the 1976 squad, also died in the USA. Other fallen Shooting Stars include Abbai Adeleye and Kafaru Alabi.
Best Ogedegbe, who was the goalkeeper died three years ago. The skipper of the side, Samuel Ojebode, has been in and out of the hospital and is currently at the UCH, Ibadan where he is under intensive care. Outside the 1976 set, other star players of the Shooting Stars who have died include Yomi Bamiro, Tunde Bamidele and0 Rashidi Yekini.