When was the last time that the name of a player became a topic of discussion on an active public forum? A time, when his skills, his age, and his experience were looked over just because his name struck a chord with members of a particular community who couldn’t help but bring it to everyone’s notice. Can you recall such an instance?
You no longer have to revisit the annals of history to bring up some example because the Premier League side, Crystal Palace, has served the answer on a platter.
The south Londoners have signed a 21-year-old player of Northern Ireland’s descent named Kofi Balmer. The young defender who used to feature for the Northern Irish Football League (NIFL) Premiership side, Larne will be at Palace for one year and is expected to bolster the defensive problems of the Eagles.
This was supposed to be a low-profile signing which should have gone under the radar, but a few supporters from the African nation, Ghana, took notice of the player’s peculiar name. His first name sounded close to home and after a light digging, they realized Balmer hailed from Northern Ireland, but his name was purely Ghanaian.
Welcome to Palace, Kofi ❤️💙
We're delighted to announce the signing of Kofi Balmer from Larne F.C. 🙌#CPFC
— Crystal Palace F.C. Academy (@CPFCAcademy) August 11, 2022
The signing went viral on Twitter in Ghana, with people commenting in all caps, pointing out the bizarreness of someone from Northern Ireland named Kofi. In Ghana, Kofi is a name given to someone born on a Friday by the native Akan tribe that exists in the country.
Also, the most famous person from Ghana who served as the United Nations (UN) Secretary General was Kofi Annan, and for a 21-year-old white male from Ireland to introduce himself as Kofi was a pure anomaly for the Ghanaians.
However, it is yet to be seen whether Balmer possesses the same suave and grit that we know the African players for, but the Ghanaian Football Twitter burst out with shocking reactions that were hard to ignore.
Kid is from Northern Ireland, has no family links whatsoever to Ghana, but is named Kofi in honour of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Globalisation is a truly amazing thing to witness. What a time to be alive. The world is actually getting smaller. https://t.co/BE6kNVFaAI
Even though Balmer has no links to Ghana, it will be fun to witness Palace’s Ghanaian winger Jordan Ayew’s reactions when Balmer introduces himself as Kofi.
