By Emmanuel Clarke and Isaac Vah Tukpah Jr., USA
Chapters Sneak Peak
Acknowledgement
For this book, there are several people and institutions that we would like to thank. Without their timeless efforts and support, it would not have been possible for us to complete this journey.
We would like to thank George Oppong Manneh Weah for the extraordinary and incredible life he has lived thus far. Without your exploits this book would not have been written. The truth is, you already wrote this book by the life you lived. All that we did was to compile it by piecing your life’s story together one chapter at a time. Thank you!
We would also like to thank a few of the Weah family, relatives, and friends who were generous with their time in sharing information with us about the life of George Weah.
We do not want to forget the following persons and institutions, William Weah Jr., D. Zeogar Wilson, Jerry Massaquoi, Franklin Duodo, Omari Jackson, G. Alvin Jones, Dru Wellington Banna, Wallace Octavius Obey, George Ggodeayee Solo, Aaron Davis, Momolu “Monk” Massaquoi, Rodney Scere,J. Emmanuel Z. Bowier, the Daily Observer Newspaper, Inquirer Newspaper, FIFA Magazine, and other print and electronic media in Liberia and worldwide for providing us with those pieces of information that helped complete this book.
Authors’ Note
The writing contained in this book is based on thorough research from various sources that include, local and international newspapers, FIFA Magazine, football magazines from around the world, hundreds of online media and video footages containing interviews with George Manneh Weah, various coaches, siblings and family members, teammates, friends, fans and supporters. Significant information also came from direct authors’ interviews with more than 30 close friends and family members of Mr. Weah.
Introduction
George Oppong Manneh Weah is not angry for being raised in the ghetto of Gibraltar, in Clara Town. Weah who is the greatest living African soccer player; having made a name for himself on football fields around the world and for the country he holds so dearly to his heart, has lived an extraordinary life. Having conquered the football world and scoring one of the biggest goals of his life by winning the presidency of the Republic of Liberia, George Weah’s life is fulfilled. Though he is loved by millions of fans and supporters, he’s often misunderstood by some of his political critics for fitting into their perceptions. There is no doubt that he has come a long way and his story of life which is mixed with pains of poverty, hope and joy, needs to be told. Being a man of lowly birth from a humble background, Weah has carved his name forever in history and on the sands of time. He can humbly tell the world that he is a happy and accomplished man, because he had the support of so many people who helped him reach where he is today.
It is because of his football achievements that he has achieved all he has up to this point in his life. Every goal he scored as a player, every football victory he celebrated by running around the full length of a football field and throwing wild hands toward the sky, every coast-to-coast run he ever made during his golden days, was intensely felt at home and around the football world—whether it was his first goal or his one hundredth goal. Football fans worldwide will speak George Oppong Manneh Weah’s name forever with love because of what he brought to the game of football and to the continent of Africa. He has forever changed the game of African politics. The political establishment on the African Continent will forever weep on his name in their secret corners for having changed the political game—especially the way modern political campaigns are run using celebrity star-power.
Chapter 1
Early Childhood and Family History
After conceiving her first child, Hannah Monneh Quinwoh gave birth to George Weah in Ganta Nimba County following the birth of her second child, William Weah Jr. (Junior Boy). George Weah was later taken to live with his grand aunty, Emma Klonjlaleh Brown.
Chapter 2
Teenage Years
As a preteen and a teenager, George Weah never ran away from a fight with his older brother William Weah Jr. (Junior Boy) or anyone within his Gibraltar neighborhood. Now as adults, the two men still argue about little things, and do not agree on almost anything at all. George was disrespectful to many of the adults who crossed his path the wrong way. People in the neighbors secretly rejoiced the day George sustained a 3rd degree burn and was taken out of the community to seek medical treatment outside of the area—that joy soon disappeared upon his return six months later. Junior Boy was seen as the most likely person to be successful and not George Weah due to George’s hot temper and his unruly behaviors. “Why can’t you be like your brother, Junior Boy so you can be something tomorrow,” people often told him. These words pained George so much that he had to prove these critics wrong by working harder on his attitude and on his soccer skills.
Chapter 3
Liberia, the Sweet Land of Liberty
Liberia, “The Sweet Land of Liberty” being the first independent country in Africa in the early 1900s, has had many “Firsts” moments. George Oppong Manneh Weah is the first Liberian and the first and only African football player to have won the Ballon d’Or (Gold Ball) and five other prestigious football awards in a single year. Liberia was the only black founding member of both the League of Nations in 1920 and the United Nations in 1945. A Liberian woman, Angie Brooks, made history in 1970 as the first African female to be elected as president of the United Nations General Assembly. Liberia is the only country in the world to be nicknamed, “The Sweet Land of Liberty” due to black freedom and the large sugar production that once took place on the banks of the St. Paul River in the mid-1900s by the early settlers that founded the country. Liberia is the first country in Africa to have elected the first female president. Liberia is the first country in the world that has made the Guinness Book of World Record for the Most Fraudulent Presidential Election—while there were only 15,000 registered voters, President C.D.B. King received 234,000 votes in 1927. Liberia was the first country in Africa to have a coup in 1871. George Weah of Liberia is the only professional football player in the world to be elected president of a country.
Chapter 4
Raised by Grand Aunty, Growing Up Poor
From the apex of his success to his entry into Liberia’s politics, George Weah never forgot to turn his eyes toward the lower corners of the Liberian society where the downtrodden thrive in poverty and hopelessness—especially having once had a front row seat that allowed him to see and feel what it means to be poor. When he found success, he remained true to himself and to the words of wisdom from his paternal grandaunt, Emma Forkay Klonjlaleh Brown, who didn’t live to see and reap the best fruit of her labor. One profound thing that George Weah has never forgotten while still a teenager living in the slums of Clara Town was Ma Emma’s words to him—never forget where you come from, and always learn how to be able not to be a bad person even if people around you are not good.
Chapter 5
Early Education: A Rocky Start
Primary and secondary education were not easy journeys for George Weah. By age five, he could barely recite the letters of the alphabet and could not count from 1 to 50 without struggles. He also struggled to develop the Ministry of Education’s famous “SO SO” phonics and other basic reading skills. Gibraltar in the days of George Weah was like many poor slum communities around the world where many of the poorest of the poor inhabit, is a one-way and one-ticket journey for many of those who dare to enter.
Chapter 6
Introduction to Football
Family members that saw him grow often say that George started playing football the moment he learned to walk as a child. For a very long time in Liberia, football was considered a game for abandoned and less fortunate street children who came from the poorest of the poor backgrounds in the capital and around the country. Growing up in his little enclave of Gibraltar, George had heard names of famous local and international football players like Augustus Mitchell and Benedict Wisseh (Mama Musa) of Invincible Eleven, Wani Boto, Josiah N. Johnson (JNJ), and Borbor Gaye of Mighty Barrolle, Pele of Brazil, Johan Cruyff of Holland, Papa Kamara from neighboring Guinea and names of many other great players from around the world and the African Continent. It is of no dispute the reason why George Oppong Manneh Weah is the greatest living African footballer ever. Mr. George, as he was referred to in France, embodied the techniques of four of the world’s greats. He possessed the strength of Diego Maradona, the agility of King Pele, the attacking and sweeping ability of Frank Beckenbauer, and the artistic feat of Johan Cruyff who wore the famous number 14 jersey for the Dutch national team. Like Cruyff, George Oppong Weah also donned the number 14 jersey for his national team, the Lone Star and many other clubs he played for.
Chapter 7
The Dream of a Ghetto Kid
Every child has a dream no matter their social, genetic or economic predisposition. For George Weah, by the age of thirteen, he had created a mental image or dream about who he wanted to be. Aside from dreaming of being a great football player, George Weah actually wanted to join the United States Military and become a U.S. Marine. Growing up in the ghetto of Gibraltar, there were not that many choices for George Weah and so many of the children with big dreams to make. As the saying goes, “You cannot become what you do not see”. As a young person living in the ghetto, especially a male child, there is not that much one can do to change their circumstances. Often, a person is born in the ghetto, lives their life in the ghetto, grows up in the ghetto, and they may sometimes die in the ghetto. Escaping the venoms of the ghettos requires hard work and persistence.
Chapter 8
The 1979 Rice Riot and the 1980 Coup
Social agitators like Gabriel Baccus Mathews, Amos Sawyer, Dew Twan-Wleh Mayson and many others, introduced violence in Liberia that changed George Weah’s worldview forever. At the age of twelve, George Weah’s world came crumbling down when the city of Monronvia was embroiled in a torrent of violent demonstrations on Saturday April 14, 1979 by political dissenters in the likes of Baccus Matthews and his People Alliance of Liberia, PAL along with other progressive movements.
To be continued
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