LAST UPDATE | 12 May 2022
COLLINS UGOCHUKWU’S STORY is a simply brilliant one. His journey to this point beyond fascinating.
The first Nigerian-born player to line out for Laois, Ugochukwu’s Gaelic football rise is surely unparalleled.
Before the pandemic gripped the world and changed everything, he was in England, forging out a soccer career. But he has firmly focused on a GAA chapter ever since, from being roped back in at club level to earning an inter-county call-up after just one season.
“Soccer has always been my first love,” Ugochukwu begins. Having moved to Newbridge from Lagos with his family when he was just three years old, he started out at the local club.
From Newbridge Town to Bohemians, his star began to rise and he soon crossed the water to Scotland. Hibernians and Selkirk were among his adopted homes there, before he pitched up at Crawley Town. He worked under Harry Kewell at the League Two outfit.
“It was good,” the 25-year-old reflects. “It was tough because I was quite young going over to Scotland playing football and I was living in digs and all that stuff. It was quite a change, obviously, not having your parents around, not having any family members around.
“It was just me trying to achieve my goal, really. It was quite tough at the start but the boys over there were like my second family. They made me feel at home and were great. The staff and everyone was helpful.
“I got to come back home more often than I was actually allowed to which kind of helped. That was a big thing for me really.”
But then, he ended up coming home for much longer than expected.
A visit with his partner soon turned into a permanent move, with lockdown hitting two days before they were due to return to the UK. Football came to a shuddering halt, contract negotiations were put on ice, and the unknown took over.
Weeks at home turned into months, months to years, and a new chapter soon opened.
When GAA clubs returned to collective training, he was lured back in at Courtwood, a club on the Kildare-Laois border.
“My father-in-law was saying to me, ‘Would you like to train with us just to get your fitness up?’ And that was it then. I was stuck here and stuck with the club,” he laughs.
Ugochukwu had played a bit of Gaelic football previously, starting out at Sarsfields aged 13 and playing last at minor level, but was “very rusty…very, very rusty” upon his return.
“They’re similar sports but they’re different obviously,” he nods. “You have to kick from your hands and you have to catch the ball and all of that stuff. The pitch is bigger too.
“The physical part of it wasn’t as tough for me, it was more the skills part that I found tough. I’m working on it every day with the boys back in the club so I’m improving. Hopefully I can improve to the standard I want to get to so I can achieve something.”
That, he certainly has already. A string of impressive displays and man-marking jobs — one in particular on Portlaoise star Gareth Dillon — caught the eye of Laois manager Billy Sheehan, and he was soon drafted into the O’Moore set-up.
“I was shocked. I remember when my Courtwood manager messaged me saying Billy Sheehan was looking for you to be involved this year, I was like, ‘Billy, are you sure now? You know I only started playing this year,’ and he was like ‘Yeah, I’ve seen you play, you’re okay.’
“I was like, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to give me another year and see then,’ but Billy believed in me and I was like, ‘If you believe in me, why not? I’ll give it a shot.’ And now I’m here talking to you guys.”
His excitement and enjoyment shines through with each and every word he utters, from discussing his strengths in “taking a guy out of the game,” teamwork and winning, to the loving stick shared between the lads about “that foreign sport”.
Predominantly a right-back in soccer, but also comfortable playing as a centre-half or holding midfielder, Ugochukwu is mostly a defender when it comes to Gaelic football.
He has played corner back for Laois, making his debut against Wexford in this year’s O’Byrne Cup, while going between wing-back and midfield for Courtwood.
He can’t say enough good things about the help he’s received from everyone along the way, the input of Sheehan, in particular, absolutely instrumental.
“He started from scratch with me, teaching me the basics, trying to get in my head back around the basics and that helped my game a lot.
“I’d come along to training half-an-hour earlier and he’d do some basic stuff with me. Kicking and catching, all that kind of stuff, the skills that you need to play at that level of football. We worked really hard together and then we did it collectively too with the rest of the team.
“I learned a lot under Billy. I was quite rusty and it took a while for it to come back and I’m still learning now. I’m getting there so hopefully in one more year I’ll be flying it.”
He has since taken time away from the county panel, with the commitment involved certainly challenging, but he’s looking forward to getting back on board in the near future.
“I had to step down for personal reasons,” Ugochukwu, who is soon starting a new job in care, having previously undertaken a pre-nursing course, explains. “I still keep in contact with Billy and the management. We’re still very close.
“Hopefully when the personal thing has been sorted out I can get back playing with Laois. I don’t know if it’ll be this year but hopefully next year I’ll back with the county team. But I have to perform with the club team this year again in the championship to get back in there. We’ll see how it goes.”
He certainly hasn’t given up on the soccer journey either, but is fully focused on Gaelic at the minute.
It’s given him so much and he’s keen to keep giving back, seeing the GAA as a powerful force for inclusivity.
“It would be lovely to see more people with different backgrounds and different cultures joining the sport,” he beams. “Because it’s the biggest sport in Ireland, so it would be nice to mix it up.
“Hopefully, with me joining in, other people in all different kinds of races can get involved. I was quite lucky with Sarsfields, they brought me in, they made me feel welcome and happy straight away. So the clubs have an important role, they have to pull lads in and welcome them in.
“Even now in club games, people would come over and talk to me. A lot of the Courtwood people are proud of the jump I’ve made. And kids are coming over looking for pictures and a chat. That’s great to be that kind of figure to them. That’s what I would like to be, to be involved in the community like that and to help as much as that.”
“I have obviously experienced some racial stuff but I’ve never been involved with racial stuff in Gaelic, luckily,” Ugochukwu later notes. “Gaelic has always been great and welcoming for me because I feel a lot of clubs do want lads from other cultures to be involved.
“Some lads don’t try to reach up to the top level. After underage, they stop playing. But no, racism has been no problem for me. Listen, personal issues yeah, there’s racism everywhere.
“Some people would do it without even knowing it but I haven’t seen it in Gaelic, which is great.”
Collins Ugochukwu, the first Nigerian-born player to play for Laois Senior Football, was speaking the launch of SuperValu’s #CommunityIncludesEveryone campaign.
Now in their 13th year of supporting the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, SuperValu is once again calling on each and every member of GAA communities across the country to do what they can to make their community more diverse and inclusive.
