In the world of African football, with the rhythm of a thousand drums and vuvuzelas gracing various football pitches and streets where soccer is being played, there exists family dynasties with captivating passion, skills and relentless determination passed down the family lineage from fathers to their children.
From sprawling cities to remote villages, the love for the beautiful game flows through the veins of many, often passed down from one generation to the next. In this exploration of African footballing families, we at MOOR SPORTZ embarked on a journey to discover these families and their remarkable stories as it has been handed over. From the echoes of roaring crowds to the whispered secrets of footballing legacies, these families have left an indelible mark on the continent’s footballing history, and the heads of these Dynasties were not only accomplished internationals for their respective countries but they also gave birth to kids after their own kinds.
Sports blood runs deep in these families and their successes and contributions to their various national teams and global stage at large cannot be gainsaid.
The Ayew dynasty started with Abedi Ayew who was a legend during his playing days, a three-time African footballer of the year award winner in 1991, 1992 and 1993. The highlight of his career were clearly in 1982 and 1993 when he won the African cup of Nations with Black Stars of Ghana and the UEFA Champions League in the colours of Olympique de Marseille FC of France respectively. Abedi Pele, as he would be called throughout his 20-year-long football career because of his extraordinary talent, was the eldest of three brothers – Kwame and Sola, the other two also represented Ghana internationally like him too.
Six Ayews in total have played for the Ghana national men’s team, these include three sons of the legendary Abedi Pele himself who have played at the FIFA World Cup. They have over 300 international caps between them for the Black Stars and counting. Certainly the Ayews are an African football royalty.
Though Abedi Pele could not fulfil his biggest career dream of playing at the football’s highest level- the FIFA World Cup- but he did gift Ghana Ibrahim, Andre, and Jordan, his three sons.The eldest, Ibrahim Ayew, played for Ghana seven times and he was a part of the iconic squad that almost led the nation to a historic FIFA World Cup semi-final in 2010, only to crash out painfully at the last step to Uruguay. Andre Ayew, meanwhile, continues to play for Ghana, along with his younger brother Jordan, both of whom have enjoyed successful careers with Marseille (combining for 356 appearances and 82 goals) and in the Premier League. While Jordan remains at premier league with Crystal Palace, Andre who is presently the Captain of Ghana’s Black Star has since taken his club’s career to Qatar, following the footsteps of his father.
A proud dad, Abedi Ayew tweeted this during that last World Cup in Qatar where two of his kids were first eleven team members for the Black stars;
“The Dream was to be like me and now you’re at the big stage where I couldn’t be, guys make the country Ghana and the family proud! @AyewAndre @jordan_ayew9 go for Gold. Alhamduliliah”….
Surely every father would relish such moments in their lifetimes like Abedi did.
Two prominent sporting houses are well known in Kenya, the most popular one in the country are the Wanyamas and we also have the family of the Origis whose head is Michael Okoth Origi.
The patriarch of the Wanyamas, Noah Wanyama played as a winger for Kenya Premier League side AFC Leopards for 16 years from the the 70s to the 80s and the Harambee Stars national team. Wanyama met his wife, Mildred Wanyama through sports. She was a netball player. The couple met while working for the Kenya Railways in the 1970s, there four sons are among the most successful footballers in Africa. MacDonald Mariga, the eldest of the four moved to Inter Milan on February 2010 after a transfer to Manchester City was scuppered by work permit regulations, this opened a great opportunity for the whole family. He also played so well for the Harambee Stars whenever he’s called upon, as he was the captain of the Kenyan’s national team.
Few were surprised when his brother Victor Mugubi moved to the Scottish league to play for Celtic from Belgium’s Germinal Beerschot before finally landing in the English premier league. Thomas and Sylvester play for Sofapaka and Sony Sugar respectively in the Kenya Premier League. MacDonald, Victor and Thomas are regulars in the Kenyan national team. Victor Wanyama a former player of Tottenham Hotspur is clearly the most famous Kenyan footballer ever and the first in his country to star in the English Premier League.
The Wanyamas are blessed to have a total of 5 siblings in sport as their sister Mercy too is a professional basketball player who plies her trade in Europe. She was the basketball captain at Lang’ata high school and went on to build her career in the sport. She joined Spain’s Ensino for two seasons. She played for ADBA Avilés from 2018 for two other seasons and stars for the Kenyan female basketball team. She made history as the first Kenyan to ever sign a professional contract in the Spanish basketball league. Indeed Noah Wanyama must today be a very proud dad.
Michael Okoth Origi the father of the Belgian international – Divock is a Kenyan retired footballer who played for club and the national team as a striker all through his career. He spent most of his professional career in Belgium and had 48 caps for the Harambee stars, the Kenyan’s national team between 1989 and 2004, scoring 17 goals. He also played in the Africa Cup of Nations in 1990, 1992 and 2004. His son Divock Origi who presently plays for Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League was born in Ostend and grew up in Houthalen-Oost. The Origi is a family of footballers: apart from Mike Origi, who played for KV Oostende (at the time Divock was born) and Genk, among other Belgian clubs. His Dovick’s uncle, Austin Oduor Origi, played for Gor Mahia in the Kenyan Premier League while his other uncles, Gerald and Anthony, played for Tusker. His cousin, Arnold Origi, is also a professional player who has been capped for the Kenyan national team as a goalkeeper.
Romelu and Jordan, both Belgian internationals, were preceded by their father, Congolese Roger Lukaku.
Roger – the head of the house – started life as a professional soccer player in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. He later moved to Côte d’Ivoire where he played his football before returning to Zaire again and from here made his way finally to Belgium in 1990. Roger Lukaku was part of the Zairean golden generation that got to the quarterfinals of AFCON 1994 and 1996 back-to-back, his two sons were born in Antwerp, Belgium. Romelu, the elder, in 1993, and Jordan, the younger, a year later.
The most famous of the Lukakus is obviously Romelu of Chelsea fame, he also starred for Manchester United, Inter Milan, he is presently at Roma in Serie A. He is Belgium’s all-time highest goal scorer with 78 in 111 caps (still counting) and presently with AS Roma in Serie A, his brother, Jordan is also a Belgian international.
The name ‘Aubameyang’ is clearly the most famous football name in the whole of Gabon. This is the family of Gabonese legend Pierre-François Aubameyang, and his three sons – Catilina, Willy, and Pierre-Emerick – who have gone on to become top professional footballers and all three are former Gabonese internationals like their father. Born in Gabon in 1965 before moving to France early in his life, Pierre-François began his professional football career at the age of 17 in 1982 with Malakoff FC. A defender, he played for nine different football clubs over the course of his career, he spent the majority of the years in France. On the international stage, Pierre-François represented his home country of Gabon for a total of 29 caps, scoring 4 goals. He featured in the 1994 AFCON in Tunisia.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – born in Laval, a town in western France – is by far the most successful in this Aubameyang dynasty, he is his country’s all-time leading scorer with 31 goals in 75 appearances. His massive collection of individual honors includes the 2015 African Player of the Year, 2015-16 Bundesliga Player of the Year, 2016-2017 Bundesliga Golden Boot, 2018-2019 Premier League Golden Boot, and in 2016 was awarded the Gabon Commander of the National Order of Merit award.
The Germany star – Leroy Sané’s lineage points to the athletic attributes that mark him out as a top footballer. The father of the Bayern Munich superstar Souleymane Sané, a former Senegalese international was one of the first black players in the Bundesliga, Souleymane’s career took him across three different leagues in Germany, Austria and Switzerland scoring goals for fun. The son of Senegalese diplomats, Souleymane arrived in France aged four, and opted to play football, despite huge oppositions from his father. Not only could Souleymane run 100 metres in 10.7 seconds, he was lethal in front of goal. Souleymane Sané born in Dakar, Senegal scored 29 goals in 55 international appearances for the Teranga Lions between 1990 to 1997.
Souleymane would eventually marry Leroy’s mother, another exceptional athlete, Regina Weber. Weber is one of the best gymnasts Germany has ever produced, and the country’s only female Olympic medal winner in rhythmic gymnastics, she won a bronze in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The pair met in the Ruhr area of Germany after Souleymane had returned to Germany following spells in Austria and Switzerland. The athletic attributes of the couple are evidently betrayed in Leroy their son too. Souleymane named his son ‘Leroy’ in honour of Claude LeRoy, his former Senegalese’ national team head coach.
Though Leroy maybe the most famous of his siblings but the other two, Sidi and Kim are also top professional footballers.
Leroy Sané has 13 goals in 55 appearances for Germany already, following directly what his father accomplished for his ancestral country Senegal.
George Weah is the president of his native Liberia. But he’s also soccer royalty.
He is the only African in all history to win the greatest individual honour in football – The ballon D’or – a feat he accomplished in 1995. He is also a two-time African footballer of the year winner in 1989 and 1995 (the year he scooped all individual honours available for any footballer on Earth).
George has produced another “seed” after his kind in his son Timothy, a USA football international with 5 goals in 34 international appearances already (still counting). He is so proud of his father’s accomplishments but has also cast his own niche in the game globally. He has won three Ligue 1 titles — two with PSG and one with Lille, He is presently plying his trade in Serie A with Juventus. He starred in the 2022 Mundial in Qatar to the pride of his legendary father George Weah and mum Clar who is the First Lady of Liberia.
These families have single handedly managed to produce sporting stars that have put Africa on the global sporting map. In this life, every parent’s wish is always to see their children succeed.
Through the trials, triumphs and unrelenting spirits of these Scions, there legacies shine as a beacon of inspiration to future African generations. It is a dedication to the power of exemplary leadership, dedication and the enduring love for football that established them, and their stories will inspire the coming generation.
References:
- Noah Wanyama: The Man Who Molded His Five Children To Multi-Millionaire Sports Personalities, by Ezra a WoK article, May 2022
- The Congolese roots of the Lukaku lineage. From the FIFA website, May 2023
- We were so poor my mother mixed water with milk to feed us’: Romelu Lukaku by Michael Searles For Mailonline, 12:10, 18 Jun 2018
- “A father’s dream fulfilled: Tim Weah carries family legacy into World Cup” Source Fox Sports November 2022
- African Sports Dynasties: The Aubameyang Family, By Meshack Keicha, June 2022
- “The incredible story of Bayern Munich’s star Leroy Sane” Source footballshirtcollective.com February 2022
- The Amazing Ayews: Ghana football’s first family from FIFA website February 2023
(Edited by Niyi Akinola)
