Samuel Chidi plays his third season in FC Haka. He has been playing in Finland for more than a decade and finally made his debut in Veikkausliiga in Wednesday’s game against FC Honka. The Nigerian, Chidi left his homeland in late 2009 and got a deal with RoPS, which was playing in Ykkönen at the time.
I played in Nigeria and foreign agents, as well as talent scouts, were watching the games and I happened to be among the players who interested them. Then I came here in the winter of 2009 and made a deal with RoPS, Chidi says about his arrival in Finland on Haka’s website.
Getting started in Finland was by no means easy. It was terrible. It was just damn cold. I remember calling my mom, crying and explaining how awful it was. I had never experienced anything like it. It was quite freezing cold. Now, however, I am accustomed to the Finnish winter, Chidi recalls with a laugh.
That year, RoPS played in Ykkonen (the Finnish first division) and dominated the league and was promoted to the Veikkausliiga (Finnish premier league). Chidi started the season well but suffered injuries. During that season he went on loan to AC Kajaani and at the end of that season, RoPS did not continue with him and that took away the opportunity to play in the Veikkausliiga the following season.
With the RoPS opportunity to play in the Veikkausliiga gone, Chidi had to wait a decade for his next opportunity to play in the Veikkausliiga after he had played his part in securing the promotion with FC Haka at the end of last season. During this period before joining FC Haka in 2018, he played five seasons in Kakkonen (the Finnish second division) with a couple of Finnish football clubs; Atlantis FC, Jippo in Joensuu, and Legirus Inter.
You can go through Samuel Chidi playing history in Finland by clicking on this link: Samuel Chidi Transfer market link
Chid’s long work was rewarded when he made his debut in the Veikkausliiga on Wednesday against FC Honka. He admits the debut was a special moment. I am proud of my achievement and how I have developed.
Though so many failures, hard times and disappointment have occurred in this past years I never gave up rather pushing on and pushing hard while I continued to work, hoping that one day it would be possible. I’m so proud that even at this age I made my Veikkausliiga debut, 29-year Chidi says happily.
This story is the English version of the original story posted on the veikkuasliiga webpage. Here is the link to the original article written in Finnish language The original Samuel Chidi article in Finnish language
