Baba Khan is an icon of the club who our current Club president William Abraham describes as “one whom without we would’ve forgotten about Real de Banjul today”.

Baba Khan used to run Real de Banjul between the 60s to the 70s, a time when the club was struggling in so many ways but Mr. Khan’s selflessness saved Real de Banjul from melting down before he moved to the United States.

The iconic Baba Khan is currently in the Gambia on vacation and took time off his busy schedule at the weekend to watch the City Boys beat Waa Banjul at Real de Banjul’s very own football facility.

The legendary Baba Khan sat with the club media to share his time at the club, how happy he is to see Real de Banjul at a good level and his continued connection with the club and its current management.

Asked how it feels to sit and watch Real de Banjul play at its very own football facility, he said….

“It makes me feel better because when I took over Real de Banjul’s management for years, the team used to train at Box-Bar stadium in Banjul, at that time many teams used to train there so there was lack of space for us and after raining seasons, the ground would be covered with water and mud, and our players were suffering with multiple injuries. So, what I did was I spoke with Master Danso (of Danso school in Latrikunda) where I lived not far from, then we were able to clean up the field. So, myself and Bambo were able to get goal post frames and install everything there, then I moved the team from training in Banjul (Box-Bar) to Latrikunda before we moved to the Independence Stadium’s second ground. When I left for the United States, Willie being very entrepreneurial and the person that has tons of ideas, was able to take the team to this level. I had tell where the history started, Willie, Pa Yusufa Samba, Bakary Jammeh (the current club executive) and everyone got the club to this level, I am super excited and I can only thank the entire board and everyone that has been part of Real de Banjul. Job well done. I am just so thrilled and excited to see the level this club is at”.

Asked whether he was still following Real de Banjul and in touch with the current management, he said….

“Willie is technically my nephew because we all came from Badibu and his Uncle was part of the team management. You see how Willie was excited when I arrived, he loves me a lot and a very respectful person. When I called him last night to tell him I was around he told me ‘boy, we have a game tomorrow and you’ve to come!’, and when I called Pa Yusufa, he said ‘Uncle if you don’t go and watch we will not win, you have to be there!’, and Bakary Jammeh is my son, nephew or my grandson (laughs)”.

Asked about how it feels for Real de Banjul to be one of best clubs in Africa when it comes to selling players abroad, he said…

“That feels great. But it’s all about networking and Willie has a very good networking system of which without you cannot sell your products because the players are products. So, Willie has some very good networking system to a point he can invite scouts over to come and watch the potentials. So I am not surprised. I remember back in the days, everything was coming out of our pockets but I knew no matter what it’ll payoff and that’s why it’s paying off”.

On Real de Banjul having up to 10 former players in the Gambia’s first Africa Cup of Nations team, he said…

“It makes me proud, but this is not something new. Real de Banjul used to have 9-10 players in the national team over the years. So this shows that the trend isn’t diminishing instead we leveling up and creating players that put Gambia on the map there is great”. 

Asked who was his best Real de Banjul player of all times, he said…

“Well, I can name two or three players, one was Ebou Dubois, the other one was Saul Jagne and the other is Amadou Adams. They were a bunch of them actually, even Ebou Njie (Kuch) he was one of our finest midfielders. So if I have to select one I’ll not do justice, so I have to just three but even Bye Malleh Wadda was the finest players you can ever have. Bye Malleh was an all rounder; defense, midfield, and striker. He will do everything with his big brother Jim Wadda who was our goalkeeper at the time”.

The iconic Baba Khan concluded by giving his words of advice and wisdom to the board, saying “let them keep working hard and discipline because I know at times things are too tough to catch yourself back, but I want them to keep on working hard. I wish them all the best and hope that the team wins the league this year”.

Club President William Abraham has this to say about Baba Khan.

“Baba Khan is a fantastic guy, by then I remember he was working at Gambia Air Ways. He contributed to the club (Real de Banjul) financially, morally, and in all kind of ways. We used to camp in his house many times when we had matches. He gathered the boys and always kept us together. He had a team in the Serrekunda West Nawettan he used take players from to Real de Banjul. Most players we have in those days came from that Nawettan team, I remember the likes of Wandeh Njie, Badou Samba, Sengan Ndour, Bully Drammeh, Alagie Khan and a lot of players that if go into the books I can remember the names he brought to the team.”

“With the little resources we had in those days, we really struggled financially and even in terms of materials and training facilities, Baba Khan will always arrange for the club to have Danso School field as a training ground. He will always make sure that we have at least thirteen players to go and play at the stadium, because in those we really struggle to get the players together to go and play and Baba was behind all of this, otherwise, maybe by now I would say we have forgotten about the club,” Abraham said.

He added: “So, his contribution can never be forgotten by us and all the players of his generation. I will say on behalf of the current executive and even his ex-players, we commend him and really owe him a very big thank you for a job well done he did for Real de Banjul before he moved to the USA with his family. We will go to his house even in the evening and he will always bring food and give it to us. He was always like a family member of the club. We are still in touch with him, there’s not a week that past we don’t communicate. Therefore, we pray for Baba to have long life, happiness, and hope to see him back in the club when he finally returns home from US”.