When Stanley Nwabali walked away from Chippa United in February, neither he nor the club said why, Footynaija.com reports.
For months, there were speculations and theories, ranging from a bigger offer elsewhere to a falling out with the club’s management. However, the truth, revealed exclusively to ESPN by his representative Mohammed Lawal, is far more human and far more painful than any of those explanations.
In the space of roughly two months between late 2024 and the start of 2025, Nwabali lost three of the closest people in his life. His grandmother died in the weeks leading up to Nigeria’s November 2024 World Cup qualifier against Benin Republic. His father, Chief Godspower Nwabali, passed away hours after that game ended in a 1-1 draw, and the goalkeeper was excused from the squad to go home and grieve.
Then on January 1, 2025, his mother Grace Nwabali died. He went back to playing football, but he was not okay.
Stanley Nwabali left Chippa Utd due to his mental health after the triple tragedy he suffered, losing his grandmother and both parents in quick succession.
It wasn't about a lack of offers, but a break from football before he damaged his career.
“It has been very difficult for Stanley,” Lawal said in the report.
“People don’t always know what is going on with these players. They only see them on the field. They know them as footballers, but they don’t know that they are human beings too. Like everyone else, they go through life’s challenges.”
The grief changed him, even if nobody connected the dots at the time. Those who noticed a difference in Nwabali’s personality during Nigeria’s AFCON campaign in Morocco, the shouting at teammates, the confrontations with opponents, the general aggression that felt out of character for a goalkeeper once praised for his composure, were seeing a man coming apart internally.
“Stanley used to be lively and always smiling. During the last AFCON and the World Cup qualifiers, he became unusually aggressive. He was shouting at teammates and confronting opponents. But that wasn’t the real Stanley,” Lawal said.
“When he first started playing for Nigeria, everyone talked about how calm he was under pressure. Later, people thought he had become overconfident or aggressive. They didn’t know what was happening inside him.”
The situation had escalated to the point where Nwabali told his captain Wilfred Ndidi during the AFCON that he wanted to quit football entirely, before teammates talked him round. Those around him reached the same conclusion as he did.
“We told him, ‘This isn’t you. Take time away before you do permanent damage to your career,’” Lawal said.
When Nwabali asked Chippa United to release him, the club agreed quietly and without drama, with chairman Siviwe Mpengesi understanding enough of what his goalkeeper was going through to let him leave without a fight.
During the months that followed, offers came in from Saudi Arabia, England and other African clubs, all of which were turned down.
“Stanley just decided he wasn’t ready to go back into football at that time,” Lawal said.
“He needed to step away, grieve, deal with everything, and come back in a better state of mind.”
Nwabali saw a mental health professional during his time away and received consistent support from Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle, who stayed in regular contact throughout. He has now returned to Chippa United, the place Lawal believes gives him the best chance of rediscovering himself.
“At Chippa, everyone knows him. They understand him. Instead of starting from the bottom in a new environment, he is returning to a place where people know who he is. That gives him the best chance to get back to the level he was at before,” the agent concluded.
