Life and lockdown for a Gambian footballer in the Seychelles
Northern Dynamo FC captain Modou Jallow
The coronavirus disruption has had an enormous impact on the entire football eco-system, facing clubs with an unprecedented crisis, cutting down their earnings, and leading to liquidity problems.
Besides causing complex issues and dilemmas for the club owners, the COVID-19 pandemic also had a huge hit on African football players, including market value issues and on a more personal side, travel restrictions in certain regions leading to some not being able to unite with families over a long period of time. Abdoulie Bah has been having a chat with a Gambian footballer based in the Islands of Seychelles. Modou (Figo) Jallow captains the Nothern Dynamo Football Club and has been with the Glacis based outfit for close to a decade now since leaving Real De Banjul. Jallow has earned national team appearances for the Gambia’s junior sides and a number of call ups to the senior team in 2013-2014. However, he is much loved and remembered for his time at home-town club Brikama United, with whom he won the West Coast Region outfit’s historic national league title 10 years ago as vice-captain under coach Ensa Sambou.
Abdoulie: Figo, I still have nostalgic memories of those wonderful times in the Gambian League and generally the happy vibe you and your generation brought to the town of Brikama. Good to catch up with you again it has been a while - tell me how has life and football been like in Seychelles for you during coronavirus?
Greetings to you brother (from far😁)
Well life and football in Seychelles during the lockdown was a very difficult moment for us and the world at large. To be seated at one place for weeks or months was very tiring and boring at times...but the good thing about it was it helps us adopt to things that we weren’t having time for before the pandemic (spending time with yourself at home/to know who u really are without influence of others)..but all in all it was a very difficult time.
Abdoulie: What has been your motivation through it all – being very far from home and loved ones
I have learnt a lot. Anything can happen in any given time so we have to be ready for anything that might come along. It is never easy when you are far away from home much more during these difficult moments but as a man you must be strong and be ready for those challenges in other to make ends meet.
Abdoulie: You have been in the Island Nation for a good number of years now, how is your trajectory been?
Yes, I have been here for a while now. It took me some time to adapt to many things here - the culture, lifestyle, food, and all.... but thank God football makes many things easier for me. In six months, I was already speaking the Seychellois creole language.
I adapted to the football culture as well. As I am speaking am the captain of Northern Dynamo FC and a CAF D License holder in coaching and expecting to do my C License later this year. Working on some other projects as well to prepare myself for life after football.
Jallow and team mates celebrating a goal behind empty stadium
Abdoulie: Brilliant. So, what is your take on Gambia’s qualification to Afcon and how this could potentially help footballers like you and others plying their trade either around the continent or the domestic leagues?
This makes us all proud to be called Gambians now I’ll be telling my friends to watch out for The Gambia. The football world will now shift their attention to Gambian players both locally and internationally because we are blessed with natural talents in this game. For me it is the beginning of an era in which we were waiting for things to finally click together. Congratulations and job well done by the boys, the technicians, and every other Gambian. Let us keep working together as a people and see how far we shall go "Our promise we renew"🇬🇲.