WE SEARCHED THE WORLD FOR JAY-JAY OKOCHA... AND FOUND HIM

For me, Jay-Jay Okocha has only ever existed in the realm of YouTube compilations. Growing up, I’d known who he was, heard people say he was so good they named him twice and seen various things about that Bolton team. But I was too young to have caught him in full flow. My relationship with Jay-Jay, as so many relationships do at that time of your life, began via bored teenage internet surfing. I’d have been about fourteen or fifteen, scrolling through social media or rewatching Man United’s 2007/08 season highlights on my dad’s laptop, trying to avoid homework, doing the dishes for my mum, or playing with my little brother. I’d be tapping on related links, catching glimpses of skillers from bygone eras, watching players like Kerlon seal dribble or Ronaldinho do his flip-flap, enjoying the easy rush of dopamine you get when you’ve watched something that tickles the fuzzy part of your brain and wastes the exact amount of time you wanted.

Something must have caught my eye. Maybe it was the title of the video, which would have been along the lines of JAY-JAY OKOCHA | SKILLS AND GOALS | 1080P HD | THE WIZARD, or something. Maybe it was the dyed hair or those retro PSG kits, I don't know. But what happened when I clicked onto that YouTube thumbnail hit me. Those sexy little flicks over defenders, the no-look passes, the way he’d dance around defenders with those stepovers and the thunderbastard free kicks he could take. I’d watch as many of those videos as I could, smile as he toyed with the ball and the souls of his markers, watch him conjure up moment after magic moment until my eyes watered and my mum screamed at me for not doing any of the dishes.

It became a bit of an obsession. I’d start looking for stories about him, read about Ronaldinho saying how Okocha was his mentor, and watch videos of Sam Allardyce dancing with him. I’d pore over every second of those engagement bait clips that said something like THE STREETS WON’T FORGET JAY-JAY OKOCHA, but something always felt off with me when I was done. I felt like I’d seen everything of his career and yet learnt nothing about what made him truly special for the teams he played for. He was the ultimate highlight player, a man custom-made for the compilation.

I wanted to find the people for whom Jay-Jay was more than a grinning highlight reel. More than skills put to a blaring techno beat. So that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve found the fans who were there to watch him week in and week out, sought out the people whose footballing lives he really impacted.

So, without further ado, let’s head to four different stadiums across the globe for the times Jay-Jay changed the world…