Segun Odegbami remembers Thunder Balogun's passing

Former Green Eagles captain, Segun Odegbami, has shared that Nigerian football legend, Teslim “Thunder” Balogun, died on the very day they were meant to meet for the first time.

Odegbami said he never got the chance to meet Balogun during his life, even though both were football icons who had been in the same place in Ibadan.

“It’s an unfortunate thing that I never met Thunder Balogun in my life,” Odegbami stated.

“Yes. We were together in Ibadan. He was there. He was a coach.”

Odegbami explained that he was set to finally meet Balogun on the day his team, Housing Corporation, was to play the Mighty Jets of Jos at the Liberty Stadium, where Balogun was expected to be.

“On the day I was to meet him, I was in Housing Corporation and we were to play Mighty Jets of Jos, Liberty Stadium. He was supposed to come. We were waiting for him to come and he died. That was the day he died,” he said.

Odegbami remembered that officials announced just before the match began that Balogun had been found dead in his bed after they tried to wake him for the game.

“Shortly before the match, they came and announced to us that they woke him up to come for the match and he was dead in bed,” he said.

He mentioned that the organizers thought about canceling the match but decided to go ahead in Balogun’s memory.

“And they were going to call off the match, but they did not. They said in his honour and so on and so forth. And I would have met him on that day. He died on the day I was to meet him,” Odegbami said.

Balogun, known as “Thunder” for his strong shot, is seen as one of Nigeria’s top footballers.

He was the first Nigerian to play professional football in England, playing for Peterborough United and Queens Park Rangers. He later became the first African to qualify as a professional coach, leading the Nigerian team at the 1968 Olympics.

Balogun passed away in his sleep in Ibadan on July 30, 1972, at the age of 41. The Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, is named after him.