Daniel Amobi Anyiam, Nigeria's First Indigenous coach
The home ground of the famous Heartland football club is aptly named the Dan Anyiam Stadium.
Perhaps no better honour can be bestowed on the former Nigerian captain, defender and coach who died in the Owerri in 1977. A member of the famous UK Tourists of 1949, Dan Anyiam was the vice-captain of the team. He played in the left half-back position.
With just 10 caps, Anyiam was more prominent as a coach than as a player. He was captain for 11 years, spanning from 1949, when he led Nigeria against hosts Sierra Leone, to 1960, when he played his last against Ghana.
He represented Nigeria on 10 occasions and scored once. The memorable goal was in the October 30, 1954, Jalco Cup encounter against the then Gold Coast (now Ghana).
He collected the ball from a throw-in and passed to Peter "Baby" Anieke, who also found Teslim Balogun. The striker unleashed a shot at Ghana's goal but the goalkeeper parried it into the path of on-rushing Anyiam. He, at first, feigned a pass, then released a shot that caught the goalkeeper napping. Nigeria won the game, 3-0.
After the UK tour of 1949 he returned to England and trained as a coach for nine months in 1954. He also trained in Germany, where he played as a semi-professional footballer for Viktoria Köln.
Having played professionally in Europe, Anyiam, along with Teslim Balogun, was disqualified from featuring in the qualifying matches for the Olympic qualifying duels of the 1960 Olympic Games. That was cited as one of the reasons the Nigerian team failed to qualify.
His first stint as Nigeria national team coach was between 1954-1956. After Hungarian coach, George Vardar left the post as coach, he was reappointed and led the team between 1964 and 1965.
He started his football career at Central School, Nkwerre, Imo State and went on to the Etinam Institute and Holy Family College, Abak, near Calabar.
He later joined the famous Zik Athletic Club (ZAC Bombers) from where he joined Lagos UAC. Between 1949 and 1960 he played for a couple of Nigerian clubs, including SCOA, the famous Pan Bank and PWD.
After the Nigerian Civil War, Anyiam became a coach in the East Central State (later broken into Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Abia and Imo states) and, in 1971, led Enugu Rangers to Lagos to win the Amachree Cup. The same year, he brought the East Central State Academicals to capture the Adebajo Cup, beating Kwara State 1-0 in the final.
The quest for a treble that year failed as his Enugu Rangers lost to WNDC Shooting Stars in the final of the Challenge Cup.