From Super Eagles Star to Successful Businessman in Dallas

For many footballers, retirement brings a tough question: what next?

For Ben Iroha, he had the answer long before his last match.

The former Super Eagles defender knew where he wanted to live, what business to run, and how he wanted life after football to be.

His choice was Dallas, Texas.

“I planned my future already before the end,” Iroha told PREMIUM TIMES during a recent reunion of members of Nigeria’s famous 1994 and 1996 football teams.

“I knew I’m gonna live in Texas.”

This was not a choice he made after retiring. He had seen the city years earlier and felt it could be his home.

When Nigeria played its first World Cup in 1994, Iroha helped the team make history. He was the left-back in Nigeria’s opening match against Bulgaria in Dallas, a game the Super Eagles won 3-0.

But that trip to Dallas meant more to him for another reason.

“When I first came to Dallas, I saw a lot of Igbos, a lot of Nigerians,” he said.

He was also surprised by the support Nigeria received during the World Cup.

“During the game, our first game, Bulgaria and Nigeria, it was as if we were playing in Lagos. You see the whites, the Mexicans, everybody wearing green and white. It was unbelievable.”

The atmosphere convinced him that Dallas was where he could build his future.

“I told my wife, this is where we’re going to live after my retirement.”

Iroha started planning before he finished his career.

He bought a house before retiring and later moved to Dallas with his family.

“I bought a house already before I quit. So I moved to Dallas with my family,” he said.

He also had a clear idea of what he wanted to do for work.

“I told my wife, it was like a dream. I said, in Dallas, I’m going to live here and I’m going to do spare parts and cars business. I’m going to make it.”

That plan, he says, has worked out well.

“And that’s what I do today. I’m doing very well. Thank God for that.”

For Iroha, life after football wasn’t about scrambling for a plan when the matches ended. He had been preparing while still playing.

That preparation has shaped his view on what today’s footballers should do with their earnings.

Football can give young players money and a lifestyle many only dream of.

But Iroha knows that income doesn’t last forever.

He believes this is one of the biggest lessons footballers need to learn before they retire.

“It is a little better now because now they have managers, now they have financial advisors,” he said. “I think most of them are doing much better now.”

But having advisers is not enough, he warned.

“You see, the life you’re living, when you’re safe to complain, is different from the life you will live when you retire. The money’s gonna go.”

Iroha advises today’s players to save, invest, and, most importantly, do it early.

“The money you put apart by doing real estate or doing good investment will help you.”

He also cautioned players against letting their spending rise with their earnings.

“When you’re top tier, the kind of life you’re living, if you don’t control it, you’re gonna be bankrupt.”

For Iroha, investing in property and businesses can help when the football money stops coming.

“You start living, listening to financial advisors, doing a lot of service and also investing on real estate on many things. That will help you win in return.”

Iroha’s career gave him a wide view of football and life beyond Nigeria.

He started his professional career in Nigeria before playing in the Netherlands, the United States, Spain, and England. He was also part of Nigeria’s squads at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.

His move to the United States came with the start of Major League Soccer in 1996. Iroha played in the league’s first match for the San Jose Clash against D.C. United on 6 April 1996.

His career also took him to Watford in England before he retired from playing.

But football was just one part of the life he wanted.

Family was at the center.

“I have three children,” he said. “My daughter is a medical doctor. My son is 28. My last one is 21. They’re all doing very well.”

The former defender now looks back at a career that took him to the highest level in the game.

He was part of the Nigerian team that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations and later represented the country at two World Cups.

But he is just as proud of what he has achieved after football.

He has built a life in Dallas, raised a family, and gone into business.

That experience has changed the way he views retirement.

“You really have to apply yourself very well,” he said when asked what he would tell young players.