YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MANNY DOWN
I’d lost hope in football, my dream dashed .. it’s been hard road but now I’m at club who want me so nothing will stop me doing well
Manny Duku once had his character questioned by Dutch club Heerenveen.
Aged just 18, there was a stain on his reputation. And at that point the talented striker thought his dream was dead.
The hurt he felt forced him to give up on the game he loved.
He could certainly never have envisaged having the resilience, determination and desire for a journey that would lead him to Kirkcaldy almost a decade later.
Duku has his family to thank for that, mainly mum Rose and his Uncle Kwame.
Of Ghanaian descent, he grew up in Amsterdam idolising the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Steven Gerrard.
Being a footballer was all he wanted to do. But when Heerenveen pulled out of giving him his first professional deal – through no fault of his own – it was a body blow.
Studying then became his priority, as a pro career looked impossible.
But on the advice of Kwame, he took the plunge and moved over to England in the hope of making a career in the game.
Duku travelled around for trials and training with non-league clubs.
With no job, no money and an increasing list of broken promises, it wasn’t easy for a young Dutchman in a new country away from his family.
But he kept going. Helped along the way by some loyal coaches who refused to let their belief in him wane, he got there.
When the striker scored a record 39 goals in a season for Hayes and Yeading, English Football League clubs came calling.
A big move to Cheltenham Town should have been the springboard to the big time. But injuries and sacked managers didn’t help.
Eventually, he dropped back down the levels before a surprise call from John McGlynn at Raith Rovers.
It felt like the opportunity he’d craved since walking out the door at Heerenveen almost 10 years earlier.
Duku has bagged four goals in four games already at Stark’s Park.
And after the likes of Lyndon Dykes and Lawrence Shankland ripped up the Championship before going on to play for Scotland, who knows what he can achieve?
Wherever he ends up, it will have been a long, tough road to get there.
Duku told MailSport: “When I was about to sign as a professional at Heerenveen, my previous club caused a problem and there was a big miscommunication.
“For whatever reason, it didn’t go through. That was my first real setback in life. My first step into professional football was being blocked at the age of 18.
“Effectively, my old club were saying I’d gone to Heerenveen behind their back.
“That put me in a bad light and Heerenveen saw it as a negative.
“They decided they didn’t want to work with someone who was giving them a bad name.
“It was a horrible feeling as I felt I’d done nothing wrong.
“A few days before the cancellation my manager had said everything was sorted. I was doing well there.
“But when I got the news it was the worst feeling ever for a young player. I’d worked hard to achieve something like that.
“I ended up playing low- level football in Holland, moving from club to club. I was basically just playing with my friends. At that point I had given up on football.
“I didn’t have ambition any more. I felt as if I’d been robbed of what could have been a career. So I gave up trying to be a footballer.
“I was studying sport management, and playing football as a hobby. I was hoping to start my own business in sport because being a footballer didn’t look possible at that stage.”
But moving to England provided a new oppor tunity. Living in Aylesbury, near London, he ended up at clubs such as Chesham United and Hemel Hempstead.
Chesham promised to pay him – travelling expenses at least – but it never happened. Duku would find himself getting lost or being late due to catching the wrong train or bus.
He took on a job entertaining elderly people with indoor and outdoor activities – but that didn’t last long.
Football was all that mattered and he refused to lose faith.
He said: “My Uncle Kwame told me that I still had to chase my dream. He always felt I had the talent to be a footballer.
“That was a big moment for me, hearing him have that belief.
“Going to England, I didn’t know what I was getting into. It was a different country and culture.
“When I got there, I trained with Oxford City. They were happy with me and I was about to sign.
“But before one of the last pre-season games they took another striker on trial – and decided to sign him instead.
“That was another blow for me. It was my first rejection in English football. Again, I told my uncle: ‘ This isn’t for me, I’ll go back to Holland and sort my life out’.
“But he said: ‘No, don’t worry, keep
Everyt hing came .. the fr out emotio ustrati n, on, the the –I suffering explode scored d and a lot of goals
going’. It was hard for me because for most of the time I wasn’t working.
“I didn’t know how things worked in England, so it was easy for me to get messed about.
“That’s the truth. It can be a hard road and, when you’re in a new place, people can take advantage of you.
“Chesham had said they’d give me something to help me support myself but I never got a penny from them.
“Thankful ly, at Hayes and Yeading everything came together for me on the pitch.
“Everything came out, all the frustration, the emotion, the suffering – I exploded and scored a lot of goals, which got me a move to Cheltenham.
“It’s been a tough journey for me to get into professional football.
“That’s why I’m so appreciative for anything I get. From where I’ve been, what I’ve gone through and the things I’ve seen – it’s been very hard at times.
“What has kept me going? Probably my mum because she really believed in me. I have good friends who also believed in me. Sometimes I’ve thought they had more belief in me than I do myself.
“In certain situations I thought I had no chance of playing football.”
But he’s getting a chance at Raith Rovers under McGlynn, who plucked the striker from Hayes and Yeading in the summer.
His goal against Hearts in the Betfred Cup was an indicationon of his quality and he’s convincedd the move to Fife can be a big momentment in his career.
Duku said: “I felt this was an amazing opportunity and maybeybe a new chapter in my career.
“Hopefully that book is stilltill writing itself.
“I knew this was the clubb I wanted to be at . I have a manager who believes in me..
“Hopefully nothing will ll happen to prevent me from m doing well.
“This move is a big chance e for me. Greatness isn’t just in n players, l ike Zidane or r Gerrard. It’s in players’ stories as well.”