Nsoatreman FC marked a milestone last Sunday, winning the first major silverware of the club's young history after beating Brong Ahafo regional neighbours Tano Bofoakwa to be crowned Ghana's newest FA Cup kings.

The victory, a hard-fought one secured on penalties, complemented a fine sophomore Ghana Premier League (GPL) season that saw them finish fourth—a marked improvement on the previous campaign's 13th place.

Some would attribute that rise to the appointment of head coach Maxwell Konadu ahead of the season, and rightly so, but an arguably bigger factor in Nsoatreman's success was another pre-season recruit: Eric Alagidede, the 44-year-old who joined the club as General Manager (GM) around the same time as former national team coach Konadu's arrival.

It wasn't a role he had ever handled on such a scale, but Alagidede—who cites as an influence James Essilfie, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Medeama—was not exactly a novice, having worked extensively in football administration prior to taking up Nsoatreman's job offer.

“I started off as CEO of Apata Kofi Soccer Academy in Winneba, going on to helm the affairs of Westland FC, a third-tier side which produced goalkeepers Richard Ofori (of Black Stars fame) and Yaw Ansah Fufuro (currently with Aduana FC),” he tells this writer in an exclusive interview. 

“GPL side Karela United were my next employers, and I served for four years as their Business Development & Communications manager before resigning in 2021 to become CEO of Koforidua Suhyen Sporting Club—a project started together with some partners—prior to my July 2023 move to Nsoatreman,” he continues.

Alagidede's new position entailed overseeing the day-to-day management of the club's operation on all fronts—including matters pertaining to the technical team, playing body, and activities of auxiliary staff—signing of player contracts and, well, so much more.

“About sixty percent of the success of a team depends on proper managerial skills,” Alagidede asserts, going on to detail how he goes the extra mile to ensure things are properly done.

“I do not limit myself to work that could be done behind an office desk, rather ensuring I am a regular presence at the training ground every other day so I have a fair idea of the players’ conduct, fitness, etc. 

“Even when the team is in camp preparing for home games, I go there at odd hours to monitor and observe happenings. That has helped me cultivate a personal relationship with the players which, in turn, facilitates my work and the team's functioning.”

The results, as pointed out at the outset, have been amazing. Actually, given what he set out to achieve in his first season, Alagidede's Nsoatreman have exceeded targets.

“In my inaugural speech,” he says, “I made it clear that I would want to secure the team's top-flight status for the 2024/25 season, and also change the narrative of Nsoatreman being the division's worst travellers.”

The latter was a sore point in a fairly decent debut campaign, with the team picking just a win and a draw away from their Nsoatre base.

Under Alagidede's guidance, however, that has been fixed in some style. In the 2023/24 season, no team won more games on the road than Nsoatreman's five, and only Asante Kotoko racked up more points in that column (19) than Nsoatreman (18).

To climax it all was, of course, the FA Cup triumph whose glow is still apparent on my interviewee's face.

Alagidede rates the season just gone as merely “successful”, modestly, and refuses to take all the praise for it.

“None of this would have been possible without a well-motivated squad made up of a blend of experienced players and eager youngsters, a brilliant gaffer who maximised the resources at his disposal, and a very capable and supportive Board,” Alagidede rolls out the credits.

It has not been all plain-sailing, though, he is keen to point out.

Managing a Ghanaian club, especially one still quite new to the harsh realities of challenging at the highest level, is fraught with difficulties, and Alagidede emphasises how easy it is not for “most young teams or newly-promoted clubs—like Nsoatreman—to compete favourably with the Kotokos and Accra Hearts of Oaks for quality players due to the sheer financial muscle required to do so”.

Having qualified for next season's CAF Confederation Cup (by virtue of winning the FA Cup), though, Nsoatreman would have to pull out all the stops to get the best players they can—during a period when traditional heavyweights Kotoko and Hearts are also looking to significantly upgrade their respective playing bodies—so their maiden continental campaign proves a truly memorable one.

“We are already in the market for some experienced players both locally and within the sub-region as well as other parts of Africa to beef up the squad,” Alagidede reveals, adding that Nsoatreman “understands the pressure that comes with playing in Africa.”

That pressure has certainly been ramped up by fellow GPL side Dreams FC's impressive run to the Confederation Cup's semi-finals last term, but Alagidede insists that sterling example is anything but daunting, only an encouragement that “anything is possible with proper planning”.

And while making a mark in Africa is the immediate goal, Alagidede is clear about what legacy he hopes to create at Nsoatreman in the long term.

“I intend to set up a structure that will bring financial benefits to the investors and instil a winning mentality in the club,” he concludes.

He has, without a doubt, got that mission off to a blistering start.