As everyone in this football club knows our teams are not just a bunch of players coming together to play football. Besides our passion for the game we are a group of friends who celebrate the happy moments together, and share the sad ones. The saddest day in the history of our club was about two years ago, when on a warm summer evening our friend and teammate Anthony Bissai Ebongo tragically passed away on the football pitch after one of our Monday league games.

This tragedy had a big impact on the club and no one who was part of the club at the time will ever forget Anthony and what happened that night. Yet to commemorate him together and honor his legacy in the club, last year we started a tradition of an annual memorial game between a team of his fellow Cameroonian countrymen and us, his home team in Shanghai. Every year the game takes place in Luwan stadium where Anthony played his last match. We are convinced he would like to be remembered with a joyful event like this, playing the game that he loved so much.

So a few weeks ago we gathered for the second time for Anthony’s memorial game. It was a great day and two very big squads showed up, which made us play the games in a tournament style with four teams. Also some of our Cameroonian teammates played with the Cameroonian side, showing the strong bond between our club and this community. We saw some inspiring Cameroonian warm-up with the the whole team running and singing together, and some passionate football by all teams later on. After some intense and very fair games we all moved over to Mike’s place where we had a BBQ together. It was great to share this time together in a community that is more than people just sharing an interest for football but a group of friends, which is as close as a family. A family, of which Anthony will always be a part of.