Stephen Appiah has is one of Ghana’s greatest ever footballers and will forever be remembered as a legend to the nation. He has represented his country on 67 occasions, scoring 14 goals and playing at the youth, Olympic, and senior levels. He captained Ghana for their World Cup debut in 2006 and was a member of their squad for the 2010 World Cup.
As well as his impressive international record, Appiah also has an extremely established club career, having spent a huge proportion of his time playing in Italy with Udinese, Parma, Brescia, Juventus, Bologna and Cesena. He also had a successful 3 year stint in Turkey with Fenerbahce.
The midfielder made close to 250 appearances in his club career, which started when he was just 15-years-old and spanned over 17 years, scoring 41 goals in that time.
However, following on from his retirement from football six years ago, Appiah now wants to become a manager and hopes to one day manage his national side.
With the 37-year-old being a brand ambassador for Betway, West Ham’s main shirt sponsor, the Hammers invited Appiah to spend a week at the club in order for him to learn about coaching at a high level. It served as a good bit of experience for Appiah, as well as potentially helping the Hammers by having an important figure at the club.
Appiah was given a tour at the London Stadium and then had the opportunity to see the Hammers play Manchester City live – where he was presented with a West Ham jersey by club legend Steve Lomas with his name and number on. He observed both the first team and the academy and spoke to several leading figures at the club, including Mark Noble, Patrice Evra and Joe Hart, as well as coaches Terry Westley and Jack Collison and head of medical services Gary Lewin.
The whole experience was well documented as a series, which you can watch here: HERE.
The initiative by West Ham and Betway to help Appiah get into management is a welcomed story for us all to hear, with there always being questions asked about the opportunities for black people in management.
Check it out: