Tribute To Raymond King


Happy New Year!!

 I trust this year will be our best year ever.

 The Nigerian football world was thrown into mourning on New Year's day. This occurred following the announcement of the former IICC (3SC of Ibadan) and Abiola Babes goalkeeper Raymond King's passing.

 On Sunday morning as I was preparing for church, I saw a post on Facebook by former international player Taju Disu. In the post, he made a passionate plea to the members of the public to contribute money to fund Raymond Kings's medical treatment. At that point, he was critically ill, on the verge of death. Unfortunately, he passed away on the 1st of January, 2018.
The first time I ever heard of Raymond King (popularly called Ramoni Oba by IICC shooting fans ) was in 1984 during CAF Champions League ( formerly known as African Cup of Champions Club).

 It was the final game between IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan and Zamalek of Egypt. Shooting Stars had previously lost the first leg of the finals. They had hoped the game will be played in Ibadan but the football body CAF ruled that the stadium was not up to the acceptable standard. The game was therefore moved to the National Stadium in Lagos.

 Raymond King was his usual charismatic self and was quite outstanding but an own goal by Ogbein Fawole sealed the fate of the Ibadan team .That final was quite significant as that game also marked the end of Chief Segun Odegbami's football career.

 At the time of the game, I  was in boarding school. I had monitored the first leg via radio commentary, while I was able to watch the 2nd leg at home during the mid-term break.

 Raymond King moved on and featured for Abiola Babes until he faded into oblivion . One of the games I fondly remembered him for was the 1985 Challenge Cup finals - Abiola Babes Vs BCC Lions of Gboko

 Raymond was said to have suffered a stroke and his health deteriorated from then on. Prior to this, he was said to have been out of a job for many years after he was relieved from his role as the goalkeeper trainer with Gateway FC.

 I pray that God will comfort the hearts of his immediate families everyone connected to him.

ADIEU RAYMOND !!!!

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