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Tom Vernon, the founder of the famous Ghanaian academy, the Right to Dream has opened up on getting advise from African football legend George Weah before the formation of the Academy.
The Englishman arrived in Ghana twenty years ago to begin the Right to Dream Academy, which has now produced hundreds of footballers, including West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus.
Before starting the Academy, Vernon was a close pal of the former Liberia President, who advised him to not seek financial gains from the football school.
“George Weah got closest to me, and for some reason, he took a liking to me, and then he used to come and train at the old academy with the boys,” he told Joy Sports.
“In those times, Ajax and Feyenoord were the big academies in Ghana.
“He [Weah] asked me, Tom, one day, ‘What are you trying to achieve?’ I said, ‘I want to have an academy like that,’ he said, ‘Then you’re going to fail.’ I asked why, and he said, ‘Because they’re not here for Ghana.’
“That’s the most pertinent thing anybody’s ever said to me, and I asked him what the meaning is, he said, ‘You have to find something which is really here for Ghana.’”