Why Edwin Gyimah Regrets Leaving Orlando Pirates

In football, there some players who play for one club and finish their playing from the same side while others decide to leave due to different reasons. There are those who leave because of money hunting, those who move due to less first-team football, while others may decide to move when they want to win different trophies elsewhere.

However, it is not always that all of those players who decided to leave their clubs will be successful in their destinations. One such player is Ghanaian defender Edwin Gyimah who once turned for Orlando Pirates, a club considered as one of the most successful clubs in South Africa and the African continent at large.

Gyimah left the Glamour Boys after starring in 2015/16 and 2016/17 season at the Absa Premiership giants for a move to Sweden where he joined then second division side Helsingborg on a two-year deal.

But the Sekondi-Takoradi born hidden gem never lasted for long. He quit the club after one season, having made 24 appearances and scored two goals in his debut season.

Reasons for leaving the Swedish side were not revealed though pundits reported that he left the club after complaining of lack of playing time. This has seen his fortunes take a dive in recent seasons despite the fact that he is just 28-years-old.

Gyimah was later to be confirmed by another South African side Bidvest Wits on January 1, 2018. This was seen as a desperate move to join his former coach at Supersport United, Gavin Hunt.

Apart from Supersport, Gyimah had also played for another South Africa side Mpumalanga Black Aces around 2015, where he had joined on a one-year loan deal before being spotted by Orlando Pirates.

But things were not rosy at Pirates. In January 2017, Gyimah requested to be released from his contract before he left for the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. This was after an argument that arose between him and then-coach Muhsin Ertugral which resulted in a fist fight at Cape Town International Airport after an Absa Premiership win against Ajax Cape Town.

The defender was reported to have been unhappy with the coach’s substitution at half-time and subsequently exchanged words with the manager at the Cape Town Airport before their departure.

Two days later, Gyimah apologised to the coach in front of all the players but Pirates went on with an independent investigation in order to unravel the circumstances that led to the row. He was later to jump ship to the Swedish outfit before the report was released as he could have been hit with a fine, suspension or dismissal.

And now almost three years after leaving the Buccaneers, Gyimah has revealed he regrets the decision saying it is the worst that he has ever made in his football career.

“You know in football there are so many things we soccer players need to learn,” said Gyimah in an interview with a South Africa’s online publication KickOff.com.

“I feel like so many players have learned these kind of lessons. Because one, our private lives play a big role in the game, people we keep around us in our private lives, the people who we take advice from, they play a big role in our career.

“So leaving Pirates… bad friends and the bad decisions from my side, because I didn’t really know the culture of South Africans… I didn’t know, even though I’ve been here since SuperSport [United].

“With the Pirates thing it’s really about something that’s outside football that I couldn’t control, that affected me to take that decision. It wasn’t about the Muhsin incident at all. It was something off the field that pushed me to take that decision.

“You know there are a lot of players who are being influenced by people outside of football. Some will say ‘you playing for Pirates but maybe if you leave Pirates you can go to Europe, you can go here’… you know there are so many things. There are so many kind of advisors that a player gets off the field.

“You know leaving Pirates was the biggest decision in my life that I could take. I regret leaving Pirates because I feel like there was so much in me that I could have offered for the team.

“The supporters loved me, everybody loved me at Pirates, there were no problems there. I feel like I could offer so much for the team, even now I think like I could offer so much.

“When I watch their game, when I watch how they play, I feel like I could still offer something for them. The supporters loved me…

“It was my own decision, nobody chased me out at Pirates. Let me be honest, leaving Pirates I regret because there are some decisions that I have made in the past that didn’t help me.

“The day I left Pirates, that’s when everything stopped in my career. That’s when everything stopped in my life.”

Gyimah currently turns for Black Leopards a club he joined in 2019 on an initial one-year deal after a successful trial at the club.

He had been without a club since parting ways by mutual consent with rival PSL side Bidvest Wits at the end of last season.

Gyimah international debut for Ghana came way back in 2012 and has since made eight appearances for the Black Stars.