Why The Sports Mirror Newspaper
Football has had an enduring presence in Liberia since the 1950s. The game was played among the scattered communities without a central organization. Available information suggests early an encounter in Monrovia between a local team known as the Young Lions against a select side of expatriates, then working with companies in Monrovia. Though the exact date of the m
atch could not be verified, it was however not played under any organized association. It was simply a game without much of the arrangement and organizations we know today. The truth was that the players were familiar with the rules of the game and therefore playing against an expatriate side did not present any difficulty. The indication was that the sport made its appearance in the country through seamen who spent their time in Monrovia, along with Liberians who returned from trips to families to neighboring countries. But the notable game as the beginning of an organized occurred with a Liberian select side and an expatriate team. That game, and subsequent others were not played or organized under a central authority as we know it today, though they became the starting point for the game’s eventual organization in Monrovia. But it was not until the return of the man credited as the father of Liberian football, Mr. John Howard, from Grammar School in Sierra Leone, somewhere around 1936 that an attempt was made to get a central organization. And thereafter the Liberia Football Association was organized.
- Courtesy, Omari Jackson, founding member, SWAL (sports writers association of Liberia)
The writer of this great piece above, could go on and on in presenting his narratives on the ups and downs moments of Liberian football, as to the extent of success the game has recorded, against the bitter moments. Africa’s first independent republic, the biggest thing that has ever happened to Liberian football is the Country boasting of the only African footballer in George Weah, to have convincingly won the game’s most prestigious individual award – the Balon d’Or or in its English meaning; World Best Footballer of the Year Award. The Country has made only two qualifications to the finals of a major football competition which is the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996, and 2002, South Africa and Mali respectively. At those two competitions, the oldest Country in Africa made its name amongst group mates but with the old adage that one cannot offer beyond the bounds of their ability, the endeared Lonestar did not make a knockout crossover, despite having an enviable lineup that included the great man himself; George Weah. The Country [Liberia] has seen other great players, and this takes me once more to founding Sports Writers Association of Liberia member Omari Jackson, now editor of the Daily Observer Newspaper. Sharing a professional conversation time with Jackson, he remarked that it was strong promotional writings from himself and the likes of Philip N. Wesseh, Willis Knuckles, Mozart Dennis, Mohammed Winpea, Burgess Carter, Peter Quaqua, etc, that the burgeoning skills of potential players was marketed to the larger world. Newspapers, including Sports World, Sports Chronicle, The News Sports, during the heydays of Liberian football, focused reportorial lenses mainly on the talents young players began exhibiting. They maximized promotion of those already with a high performance in the national football league or in community-organized tournaments. These were indeed players who were impactful and when given media attention, they could attract the interest of big name player-agents or scouts of notable European clubs. Through such nationalistic or patriotic styled Journalism, Jackson said, nicknames were given to some key players who put up remarkable performance for the National Team and some in the sporting populace even hardly call those players by their actual family [given] names as the nicknames Sports Reporters of the past gave them resonated with the fans and rang a louder bell when cheering from the stands.
