Efe Ambrose didn’t even want to be a footballer.
Growing up in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, his ambition was to be an accountant. In fact, any sporting potential he had as a kid was in table-tennis or gymnastics. Playing football for a living was just a pipe dream. Yet here he is. Sitting in the boardroom at Cappielow Park in Greenock, reflecting on the highs and lows of a 17-year career in the game. Even to the man himself, it seems surreal.
He’s played at the World Cup, Olympic Games, African Cup of Nations and Confederations Cup. He was in the Celtic team that beat Barcelona in the Champions League. While winning 51 caps for his country, he took on the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres and Lionel Messi. Next Saturday, Ambrose will be at the Balmoral Stadium in front of 2,000 punters to play against Cove Rangers. But that’s how humble he is. It’s why he’s so popular with team-mates in every dressing-room he goes into.
He's had to defy the odds his whole life. Just a week before the 2008 Olympics, he was told by medics of a heart problem that might have stopped him from playing altogether.
As he tried to get out of Africa to Europe, he ended up training on his own in the streets of Barcelona. Moves to Villarreal, Freiburg, Nice and Rennes all fell through. He faced setback after setback, but kept going.
Eventually, he disappeared from his family and his club in Nigeria to chase a deal at Israeli side Ashdod. For three months, they thought Ambrose had been KIDNAPPED.
Instead, former Aston Villa boss John Gregory was saving his career hours before he was due on a flight back to Lagos. Before he ended up at Celtic, he was on trial at Manchester City.
After shackling Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli, Roberto Mancini wanted to sign him - only for Ashdod to kibosh the deal. Now, he’s at Morton. And Ambrose is still smiling.
He regards himself as Scottish now. His life and career has been relentless so far. And he’s got no plans to stop.
He boasts that he’s NEVER been injured - and claims no current player on the planet has kicked a ball more than him. But at the start, football was barely on his agenda.
In a rare interview, Ambrose told Mailsport : “I never imagined I’d be a footballer today. When I was a kid, I had a gift. But I never once thought about being a professional.
“My parents wanted me to go to school and be a doctor, a lawyer or an accountant. For me, it was to be an accountant.
“In terms of sport, I liked to play table-tennis and do gymnastics with my friends. Football was never a priority.
“I enjoyed it but it was just for fun. Even as a teenager, it seemed impossible. There was no chance.
“Back then, the dream was just to have a good home. My dad looked after us in Kaduna.
“We had a big family, I have four brothers and two sisters. I had a good upbringing.
“In Africa, everyone on the streets is your friend so I had good people around me.
“My family are still in Africa now. Unfortunately, I lost my dad in 2006 and that’s when my football career took the next step.”
After impressing as a right winger and STRIKER as a youth, Ambrose signed full-time for Kaduna United and switched to centre-back. He was soon regarded as one of the biggest talents in Nigeria.
He was selected for their Under-23 Olympic squad but almost didn’t play. Efe said: “I did cardio tests before going to Beijing and the doctor said I had a heart problem.
“I said: ‘What’? Everyone in the camp just stood still, they couldn’t believe what he was saying. I had been playing and running since I was a boy, without an issue.
“But they didn’t allow me to play or train. This was a couple of weeks before the Olympics.
“I was shocked. To this day, we don’t know what the problem was. I didn’t want to know.
“I spoke to my mum and my Godfather back in Nigeria. I was worried that the door would close for me.
“I couldn’t go back to school, what would I do without football? I prayed and went for a second opinion. When it was OK, the Nigerian team doctor still wouldn’t accept it.
“The whole country was upside down because of me, it was a big story. Eventually, the sports council flew me to a hospital in Korea for final tests. Thankfully, I got the all clear to play - and we got the silver medal at the Olympics.”
When he went to Ashdod in Israel for a trial, Ambrose had his bags all packed to go home. Friends and family didn’t know where he was as he'd kept it a secret.
But English coach Gregory finally saw something in him and changed the direction of his career. Efe said: “My flights back to Lagos were booked. But Ashdod had a game that night and they gave me the option of playing.
“I had to take all of my luggage to the match. I was due to have a shower then go straight to the airport.
“I was convinced to play but I was angry at not getting a deal. Gregory was there watching and asked: ‘Who is that boy’? He was told I was a Nigerian who was too skinny. But he said they had to keep me.”
Celtic weren’t the first British team to show an interest in Ambrose before Neil Lennon brought him to Glasgow. West Ham and Manchester City were both keen and he wonders how his life would have changed had Mancini taken him to the Etihad.
He said: “I had the opportunity to go and train with City for four days. They wanted to sign me.
“I trained with Aguero and Balotelli - and Mancini was looking for cover at centre-half. They wanted to see me in a game before making a final decision but Ashdod said no.
“They needed me for a crucial match against Hapoel Tel Aviv. I was obliged to go back. It was a big moment in my career.
“The road was clear for me to go to Manchester City but I missed the opportunity.”
Instead, Celtic signed Ambrose for £1.5 million on deadline day in 2012. And he’s been in Scotland ever since. At Hibs, Livingston, St Johnstone, Dunfermline and now Morton.
But why? The answer is that Ambrose now regards Nigeria as his second home, after Scotland. He said: “I had opportunities to go to other countries after Celtic.
“But I knew if I stayed here for five years, I could get a British passport. Some people would have gone for the money. But for me, this passport is worth more than a million pounds to me.
“It means I can continue to support my family and keep them safe. Africa is not safe now.
“My wife has got her University degree here in Scotland. She, along with my kids, are Scottish now.
“We never thought we’d stay here this long. We were planning to go back to Africa.
“But we love it here. So many agents came to me with great offers, like China.
“But I always said no. Money is not everything to me. I rejected everything for my family.”
At that point, after an hour and 22 minutes of talking about his life and career, young Morton team-mate Jaze Kabia comes into the boardroom. He gives Ambrose a hug and says he’s been like a father to him. And if Kabia manages to emulate his mentor on and off the pitch, he’ll be successful.
His career at Celtic started to go downhill after a Champions League nightmare against Juventus. But Ambrose says he has no regrets because he never let Neil Lennon down.
In 2013, just three days after he’d helped Nigeria win the Africa Cup of Nations, the defender was thrown into a last 16 tie against the Italians at Parkhead.
In the first-leg Ambrose made costly mistakes for two of Juve’s goals, as well as missing a big chance to score late on.
For the return game in Turin, he was a sub because he’d been late for the team bus going to the stadium, which didn’t please his manager.
But Ambrose loved his time at Celtic Park and wouldn’t change anything.
He told Mailsport: “Being at Celtic put my name up there in football. It’s a massive club.
“Everyone in Europe, Africa, the world, they recognise Celtic.
“To play in the Champions League in front of those fans was incredible. Everyone in Nigeria was supporting Celtic.
“Whenever I went back home, I took strips with me for the people there.
“I have no regrets about what happened in the Juventus games.
“Maybe my only problem is that I’m TOO committed. I stuck to my word with the manager.
“I told him that straight after the African Nations, I’d be back to play and help the team.
“I didn’t feel a problem with fitness. The games just didn’t go the way we wanted to because we lost.
“A few things happened on the pitch but that’s football. The most important thing to me was that I kept my promise to the manager.
“I felt the team needed me so I’ll never regret it.
“I could have gone back to Nigeria to pop champagne and celebrate with my team-mates but I didn’t.
“I kept my word and that’s why Lennon always stood by me.
“People thought I shouldn’t have started and, of course, he could blame me for the goal.
“But the manager trusted me as a professional.
“In the next two games after Juventus at home, I scored goals for Celtic. That’s football.”
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