Tony Yeboah - Club Career

Club Career

After spending his youth in Kumasi, Yeboah joined German club 1. FC Saarbrücken in 1988. This move was of some historical significance, because Yeboah became only the second black player to appear in the Bundesliga, only pre-dated by fellow Ghanaian Anthony Baffoe who had been born and raised in Germany. This was a time where the Bundesliga was dominated by Caucasian players (in fact, many squads were all-German, except for one or two European foreigners).

Yeboah had a slow first year, but then scored 17 goals in his second Saarbrücken year. He was then transferred to Eintracht Frankfurt where he was at first booed by a section of fans and subjected to monkey-noises, amongst other racist insults, him being the first black player the team had ever signed. In the Hesse metropolis, Yeboah quickly established himself as a deadly striker, silencing all critics. Equally adept with feet and head, his joyfully executed direct style of play mesmerised the fans to the point that soon, the Zeugen Yeboahs (Yeboahs Witnesses) was formed and became an overnight cult success. Yeboah was the Superstar-next-door for the people of Frankfurt and Rhein-Main. His popularity helped pave a great deal of the way towards true racial-integration in the region, such was his profound influence on the fans and citizens, who had not all been sympathetic towards Africans until then. He was the top Bundesliga scorer twice with Frankfurt, in 1993 and 1994. By then, the Bundesliga and the German people were ready to welcome other African players like Jay-Jay Okocha, Samuel Kuffour and Souleyman Sané to play in the Bundesliga. In 1995, he and colleagues Maurizio Gaudino and Okocha clashed with manager Jupp Heynckes, which led to their departure from the club.

Yeboah joined English club Leeds United from Eintracht Frankfurt for a £3.4 million price tag at the start of 1995. As well as his wonder-goals of the season against Liverpool and Wimbledon, a hat-trick versus AS Monaco in the UEFA Cup was one of the high points of his Leeds career. Yeboah often cited his good form and prowess while at Leeds was down to his love for Yorkshire Pudding. A video was released named ‘Yeboah – Shoot to Kill’ while he was at Leeds.

Injuries (several picked up while on international duty) restricted his game when he played and kept him out of the Leeds side on several occasions. When George Graham took over as manager, there was a clash of personalities and Yeboah was sold. He returned to Germany, and was still playing and scoring for several years after he left Leeds.

Yeboah scored a total of 33 goals for Leeds United in 62 appearances, and is still revered as a cult hero for the Yorkshire club due to a series of memorable goals he scored. His volley against Liverpool and his strike versus Wimbledon in the 1995–96 season were amongst his notable goals and he was a regular feature in Goal of the Month in the Premiership at a time when the Georgian midfielder Georgi Kinkladze of Manchester City F.C. and Matt Le Tissier of Southampton F.C. also gained a reputation for scoring world class goals in the competition. The goal against Wimbledon was also awarded Goal of the Season in 1995–96. While at Leeds, the speed of one of his shots was unofficially measured at 96 mph, making his shots faster than Leeds legend Peter Lorimer. In his first season (1995–96) at Elland Road he was voted as the club's first-ever non-British Player of the Year. He also scored three hat-tricks for Leeds; the first against Ipswich Town in the Premier League at Elland Road on 5 April 1995, the second at AS Monaco in the UEFA Cup on 12 September 1995, and the second 11 days later in a Premier League match against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.

Yeboah left German club Hamburger SV in 2001 after 28 goals, in order to join Al Ittihad Doha in Qatar, where he played under Austrian coach Josef Hickersberger.

In 2005, Yeboah appeared at the Lucas Radebe testimonial with Leeds United and African players past and present. In December 2006, he featured in a charity match christened as "Anthony Baffoe XI vs Anthony Yeboah XI". According to the organisers, this event will be held annually to raise funds to support orphanages in the country. The match ended 3–2 to Yeboah's team. Yeboah played a cameo role in the first ten minutes. The match also featured players such as Stephen Appiah, Marcel Desailly and Richard Kingson.