IN RECENT years, the national football team has started to reflect a rapidly changing and increasingly diverse Irish society.
In June 2021, Chiedozie Ogbene became the first African-born player to represent Ireland at senior level.
In addition to Ogbene, in the last Ireland squad to face France, for example, there were four other players of African descent — Andrew Omobamidele, Gavin Bazunu, Michael Obafemi, and Adam Idah.
Ogbene was born in Nigeria, while all the other players mentioned above were Irish-born but had at least one parent from Nigeria.
And according to a 2016 census, 39,834 of the Irish population identify as black or black Irish-African.
These significant changes can be traced to the Celtic Tiger boom, which led to a rise in the levels of immigration to Ireland from all parts of the world, including Africa.
“[The early 2000s] is when most African communities moved to Ireland,” Emeka Onwubiko, the first-ever Nigerian player to represent Ireland at underage level, told The 42 in a 2021 interview. “That’s why you’re seeing this emergence of kids with a Nigerian background playing for Ireland in the underage system. Everything all started 20 years ago.”
Onwubiko was one trailblazer and another was Noe Baba.
While Onwubiko and all the other footballers mentioned above are of Nigerian descent, Baba was different in the sense that he was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, moving to Ireland around the age of 10.
The process of adapting to a new country was not particularly difficult for him personally, Baba tells The 42.
“Once you have your family around you, everything is a little bit easier,” he explains. “With kids, I feel like they have a little bit more freedom to adapt.”
Baba and his family settled in the town of Castlebar in County Mayo, lining out for local side Castlebar Celtic where his talent as a footballer quickly became apparent.
The biggest challenge was learning English as French had been his first language but otherwise, Baba’s transition was relatively smooth.
“I was pretty lucky, I grew up in a community where everybody was nice, and you go to school and make friends easily.
“As an adult, you look at a few more things, but as a child, once you have the necessities, everything else is really adjustable.”
By the age of 12, Baba was playing in the Kennedy Cup, a prestigious Irish underage competition where most of the best youngsters in the country congregate with numerous scouts and coaches from abroad watching on.
Yet initially at least, Baba simply saw football as a game he enjoyed as opposed to an activity he could make a living from.
“Football has always been a path that helped me make friends, not only make friends but help me enjoy my youth as I was growing because I remember playing football all the time. I remember going away to games, playing tournaments, and making friends that I’m still friends with today and that I’ve grown up with playing football, which gives you a lot of good memories to look back on.
“By the time you’re five or six, you’re playing around, you’re kicking around. But when you’re talking about organised football, my older brother used to play for Castlebar Celtic. So it’s only when I got to Ireland [that I started playing seriously] because the structure in Ireland compared to Cameroon is not the same.
“In Cameroon, when I was young, you were able to play around with your uncles, your cousins, and everything, it’s just home-based, there’s nothing too serious there.”
Baba also believes his atypical background in Cameroon helped him excel once he started playing schoolboy football in Ireland.
“When you play unorganised football, you get used to playing everywhere,” he says.
“There is no fixed position. So you end up thinking: ‘Okay, you’re just running around playing everywhere. So you have to go attack, it’s not like you’re just a defender or you’re just a midfielder or you’re a striker or a goalkeeper, because it changes, you don’t have a fixed place where you play.
“You just play to enjoy yourself so you can end up anywhere and it’s not like you’re playing on full-size pitches where everybody has a position. You just play around the garden or you play around the house where there’s absolutely no structure to it.
“And it helped me in a way. I had, in my mind wherever I was able to play in many different positions when it came down to structured football, because if you’re used to playing everywhere, now you get up on a football pitch, the demand is similar, but in a structured way.”
Those early experiences have stood to Baba, as to this day, he is comfortable playing across the backline or in midfield, and even this season, he has switched between the two roles.
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Living in Mayo, Baba naturally tried his hand at Gaelic football too, though was less enthused by the prospect of playing hurling.
“Growing up, most of my friends used to play GAA. And once you grow up as a child, you also want to do what some of your friends are doing.
“I played a little bit of [Gaelic football], hurling was a little bit scarier for me because I never got used to the hurl.
“I don’t know if I ever got over the fear of being hit by the hurl, you know? In Gaelic football, if the ball hits you, that’s okay. I’m used to that in football. But with hurling, it was a little bit different.
“I remember trying out for school when I was a young kid and I just never seem to get over that fear of getting hit by a hurl, because I used to love hurling, I used to watch Kilkenny and Galway.
“I used to like watching the likes of Henry Shefflin and Joe Canning. I remember when my dad and I used to travel to go to football training and we used to see it because I used to wait for the train in Dublin.
“And we used to watch the final sometimes when Kilkenny would play the likes of Galway or Tipperary. I had a general interest in hurling, I used to love watching it because I feel like the sport is spectacular — super fast and the fitness and ability of some of the boys is spectacular.
“Some of my friends that I used to play football went on to play for Mayo, and made a huge difference in Mayo inter-county football.
“But you look at the fitness level, and you look at the way they train, the way they’re dedicated to basically play the sport, it’s remarkable. I’ve always had a general interest to be able to see the way they train, the way they look after themselves, the fitness demands, not only that the pitch is really big, but the contact that they get is very, very heavy, some of the shoulders, the demands, the tackling, it’s really tough.
“And if you go there and you train there for two weeks, I’m telling you, you come back to football, you’d be surprised how much fitter you are.”
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As a youngster, Baba was highly coveted owing to his exceptional performances at underage level.
He went on trial with Manchester United and Celtic, while Arsenal were also reportedly keen.
The FAI U16 International Player of the Year for 2012, he linked up with another Premier League team, Fulham, in January 2013 amid high hopes.
By this point, Baba was a star of the underage circuit and was regularly representing Ireland at underage level.
Beating a Belgium side 1-0 that featured Charly Musonda and Andreas Pereira was among the highlights.
It was a talented Irish group in which his teammates included Josh Cullen, Jack Byrne, Daniel Cleary, and Jack Grealish.
“We used to get DVDs,” he recalls. “And I still have most of my DVDs at home. So sometimes I do put them on and I just watch them again and you do tend to feel a sense of happiness when you’re looking back over it.”
He still speaks warmly of the coaches in the Ireland setup who helped him to progress –Paul Byrne, Niall Harrison, John Morling, and Jason Donohue to name a few.
“They looked after me, you know? And for me, it wasn’t as much about playing. It was, I was getting looked after, I was training and I was enjoying myself. They made it enjoyable for me. They made it like a home for me. And it wasn’t somewhere where you had to go and perform. It was more that you had to go and enjoy yourself. And at that moment in time, I was just enjoying football. I was enjoying football to a level whereby you just go in and you play.”
He continues: “It’s always interesting because sometimes I go watch the younger teams like the U14s when they have training at the AUL.
“Because sometimes I do a little bit of one-on-one coaching with some of the players as well. So I go and watch them there. And then you run into all of those familiar faces.
“And it gives you [a sense of] joy to see that they have another group of players that they’re helping the exact same way that they helped you.”
Since those early days, Baba’s career has not hit the heights he would have hoped.
In a December 2021 interview with Cologne Celts, on moving to England aged 16, he reflected: “That was a bigger level shock for me than from Cameroon to Ireland. You know that one is like you’re moving in from a small town where basically the family is very close, and everything is so close to moving into London where the city is bigger. Culture is entirely different; the lifestyle is different. Life moves a lot faster than it does at Castlebar.
“I moved there to play football, and then there are different demands on you… Moving away from your family as well… everything was different, and it was just a lot to take in. It was a lot of changes for me, and it was an experience that I’m glad I had at that time because it teaches you a lot to be to go through those sorts of things and then you have to grow up really quickly.”
Unfortunately, Baba was released by Fulham at the end of the 2014-15 season, failing to make the first-team breakthrough and with the club struggling to a 17th-place finish in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League the year before.
Having already dabbled in GAA, Baba sought solace in another sport outside of football.
“I was going through a tough time and the Castlebar boxing club, I went in there to do a little bit of training and I came out a different man, that’s all I can say.
“I tell you, it’s a different sport. And it’s just one of those things that I always look back on — I’m really, really grateful for the people that are at the Castlebar Boxing Club because that summer, they gave me a beating, but it was a good beating. Do you ever sense something like that? You get a good beating and then you kind of realise: ‘Okay, I’m actually tougher than I thought I would be’ because boxing training is different. And some of the things that those boys go through and the regime they have, it teaches you something different.
“I came back after getting released by Fulham. You know how things happen and you sometimes feel sorry for yourself? I was hanging around, I went back home, and I was with my parents.
“And then I knew that some of my old teammates that I used to play football with when I was younger, some of them did boxing. So I went in there and I’ve always had an interest in boxing. I went in there and Mick Quinn, the trainer there, basically took me under his wing, and even up to now, I’ve always had that gratitude towards him. The way he trained me, the way he took me in, and what he taught me that summer stayed with me.
“I did an eight-week training camp with him before the start of the season and then after that, I came away a different man.”
He elaborates: “It was actually more than [guidance] that they gave me because when you’re young, there are certain things you haven’t seen, there are certain things you haven’t gone through and then walking in there with those people, they had the experience of what you’re going through, boxing is a very similar sport, you have to just focus on yourself. Because out there you don’t have teammates in boxing, it’s more of you against your opponent.
“And for me walking into that environment whereby I had to basically challenge myself, not having to challenge anybody without having to look at any other player or having to look, it just helped me to just get my mindset into me: ‘What can I do better? How can I improve?’ And it was something that I needed at that moment to be able to resettle myself, to be like: ‘Okay, something not always it’s about other people, but more so, it’s sometimes about you, and how you try to move things forward.’”
On the topic of the fulfillment of potential and whether Baba wishes he had done anything differently in the days when he was considered one of Irish football’s brightest young talents, he says: “There are always one or two decisions you could have made differently. But to just look back on it and then try to figure out which one [you’d make differently], it just gives you a lot of regret, which [is why] I don’t really like doing it.
“I tend to try to focus on what’s next. And the next step, for me, is the next training session, the next game, and football is a different sport. It goes up and down very quickly. So for me, once something has happened, I just try to move on to the next [challenge].”
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Whatever happens between now and the end of his career, no one can take away Baba’s part in Irish football history, having become the first African-born player to captain an Ireland side in a competitive game after he was chosen as skipper for the U17s in 2012.
“I look back on those moments and it helps me from time to time to know that it doesn’t matter what happened, you did achieve a lot of things together, and you did get to a point where you were performing at a high level, which for me, at 26, I still think that I can still [reach], and give myself a good amount of time to be able to perform to play some good games.
“But when you look back, you look back at it with pride, you’re like: ‘Okay, these things actually happened.’ But you know what football is like, it’s not what you did before, it’s what you’re doing now that really counts.
“So you can look at that by yourself individually. But then, you have to go into your next training session, and you have to go into your next game. And it’s what you do [in the present] that people tend to look at.”
And is Baba encouraged by the significant number of aforementioned African-Irish footballers who have emulated and built on his success in the 11 years since that historic moment?
“I always say ‘fair play,’ it’s encouraging because not only are they in the ranks now of the senior team, but the 21s, the 17s, and the 19s, you see a lot more [African-Irish].
“Because back when I was playing, there weren’t many, but now you tend to see not only in football but in all sports in Ireland. Sometimes when you’re growing up, you don’t notice it.
“I didn’t really pay attention because all of the boys were nice. It wasn’t a situation in which you felt like you were the only one. You just felt part of a team, which I’m sure a lot of them even now feel: ‘It doesn’t matter for us, we’re just part of a team or representing the country that we live in, and the country that’s for us.’
“And for me, I grew up here, I represented the country, it’s always because the managers, the staff, and everybody, they don’t see it that way. They just see you, as the player, as one of the boys that just represent a country, it’s a great feeling.
“I was by myself from time to time, but to see so many of them, not only getting the opportunity but being good enough to do that, because you have to be good enough to do that. That’s always what it comes down to, you have to earn your spot because it’s a man’s game. And you have to be in a position to be able to perform.
“I watched that game against France and I’m telling you, I was jumping. Not just that I was happy for [the African-Irish players], but it kind of just went to show that: ‘Okay, you were there, other people are going further than you did.
“It’s not like my career is over, anything is still possible but to see people at that moment, being at that level, doing what they do, it gives you a sense of joy.”
Unfortunately, not everyone shares Baba’s enthusiasm. Last month, the FAI released a statement condemning “vile and horrific” racist abuse aimed at members of the Ireland U15s team from several social media accounts following recent back-to-back 6-0 wins over Latvia.
Baba himself says he experienced abuse on many occasions and feels the best option for him personally was to ignore it, though stresses that each situation is different.
“Once you got it [racist abuse], my dad used to tell me to focus on the people around you and see what they give you, not the ones hiding behind the screen screens or the phones.
“Social media is very popular nowadays. And people can easily sit behind a computer and say something. But I was lucky that I had people around me, coaches, staff, and family, and you were getting love from the right people.
“If the wrong people saying something or somebody saying something at you or throwing something at you, just turn it into a good thing because there are enough people out there [who support you].
“It’s not like I’m saying: ‘It’s okay, what they’re doing is not wrong.’ It’s completely wrong. And I will not [advocate] a situation to be like: ‘Okay, continue doing it.’ But nowadays it’s kind of hard to control, what’s going on.”
“It comes down to different people as well. Some people might receive it in a different way. For me, for example, it depends on how the guy [who is abused] is feeling, because I could give advice that may not be good for him. That’s just the way I dealt with things and many different people deal with things completely differently.
“That’s why for me, when it comes down to this racism and it’s a very difficult subject because it is there, but the way to deal with it, I’m just me, I can’t make a decision for everybody. For example, for me, I try not to [react]. That’s the best way for me to be able to [deal with it], I cannot go away and say something bad to somebody, I try to keep my behavior as clean as possible so that I can be an example to other people.”
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Since leaving Fulham, Baba’s career path has certainly not been predictable. He had short stints with Birmingham City and Macclesfield Town, for whom he made his senior debut, before spending the second half of the 2018 season in the League of Ireland with Waterford.
He returned home last month to sign for Finn Harps, having spent four years in Germany — an experience he describes as “enjoyable” — with Lupo-Martini, Fortuna Koln, and KFC Uerdingen.
Of late, Baba has been playing regularly for a Finn Harps team who have experienced a somewhat inconsistent start to the season though Friday night’s 1-0 win away to Wexford saw them move up to sixth in the First Division table.
The player has so far tended to not stick around at any one club for a prolonged period but hopes he has finally found more of a permanent place of residence in Ballybofey.
“Coming to Finn Harps, I was like: ‘I’m going to give myself the best opportunity to perform best for as long as I can.’ And that has not changed from the first minute I walked through the door and I spoke to Dave [Rogers], I was like: ‘Look, I’m here to perform, I want to play. I want to be able to give my best for the football club. If that goes on as long as possible, then why not? Because at the end of the day, football is all about performance. And if you can perform and give the best of yourself to the max of your ability, having a home is always important.
“If I can help this football club for as long as possible, then that’d be very good for me.”
Moreover, a big reason why Baba opted to join Finn Harps is the manager Rogers, the English-born ex-Shelbourne star who he singles out for special praise and whose coaching career has previously encompassed stints in the USA, India, and Liverpool’s academy.
“I’ve only worked with him for a couple of weeks now, but you can see that he’s a people person,” Baba explains.
“In football, you know what it’s like, you don’t find a lot of them around, but you can see that he cares, not only about the football side of things but genuinely cares about your progress, cares about the way you do things, the way you are building things forward.
“Because he is a real family man himself, it gives you a different aspect, it gives you something different to look at, not just on the football side, but outside. He genuinely cares about the way you carry yourself, the way you move on with your life, what type of human being you are, and it links in to develop the right mindset to enable you to perform.”
Bonding with the people around him who he loves and cares for is a big reason Baba started playing football in the first place and it is also why he remains determined to experience a long career in the sport despite all the setbacks he has encountered in recent years.
“Sometimes you do go through those moments where you feel like: ‘Okay, what am I chasing this for? I should maybe just go back and do something different.’ But then you look at the people around you, the people that helped you before, the people that are around you now, you look at yourself personally.
“I always believe that this is a talent that God gave me, to be able to enjoy my life.
“So if I turned my back on God-given talent right now, what am I going to do? It’s not like I don’t have other options or something else to do.
“But this is the talent he has given me. If I can still run, if I can still do all of these things I know that I can do to play, why not just continue to be persistent and give my best every day to be able to continue doing it?
“So that’s what I try to do on a day-to-day basis. You’re just like: ‘Okay, here’s another day, I can give a little bit more of myself.”’
