Why Stanley Nwabali Left, Returned to Chippa United

Nigeria international Stanley Nwabali has completed a surprise return to South African Premiership side Chippa United, five months after leaving the club by mutual consent.

The Super Eagles goalkeeper’s return was confirmed by the Eastern Cape outfit on Saturday, bringing an end to months of speculation over his future following his unexpected exit in February.

Neither Nwabali nor Chippa United disclosed the reason behind the split when it was announced earlier this year.

Read Also: Super Eagles Goalkeeper Nwabali Returns To Chippa United

According to ESPN, the goalkeeper later hinted during an interview with South Africa’s Metro FM that his decision to leave was driven by a desire to prioritise his personal happiness.

Nwabali is expected to bolster Chippa United’s squad ahead of the new season after rejoining the club where he established himself as one of the Premier Soccer League’s standout goalkeepers before rising to prominence with the Super Eagles.

The 29-year-old gained international recognition following his impressive displays for Nigeria, particularly during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, where he played a key role in the team’s run to the final.

Nigeria international Stanley Nwabali has completed a surprise return to South African Premiership side Chippa United, five months after leaving the club by mutual consent.

The Super Eagles goalkeeper’s return was confirmed by the Eastern Cape outfit on Saturday, bringing an end to months of speculation over his future following his unexpected exit in February.

Neither Nwabali nor Chippa United disclosed the reason behind the split when it was announced earlier this year.

According to ESPN, the goalkeeper later hinted during an interview with South Africa’s Metro FM that his decision to leave was driven by a desire to prioritise his personal happiness.

“It is best you are being comfortable and enjoying the moment,” he said to Metro FM. “It was a strong decision, not a really nice decision and I felt it is best for me.

“Football is something that deals with happiness, your happiness comes first. I am happy with the club, but it is something that both parties understand.”

Neither side were willing to go into the details of that understanding, but the timing and nature of the decision, given that it came soon after he had signed a new long term extension to his contract, left many bewildered.

But his representative Mohammed Lawal, speaking with permission from Nwabali, told ESPN exclusively that the decision to walk away when he did was not just from Chippa United but also from football and was driven by overwhelming grief and a need to protect his mental health.

In order to deal with the emotional toll of losing his grandmother, father and mother within a two-month spell, Nwabali had to step away.

Nwabali had lost all three close relatives in quick succession. His grandmother died weeks before Nigeria’s November 2024 qualifier against Benin Republic. His father, Chief Godspower Nwabali, died around the same period, hours after the goalkeeper had played in the 1-1 draw, and he was excused from the squad to grieve. His mother, Grace Nwabali followed on Jan. 1, 2025.

Lawal says the triple tragedy took its toll, telling ESPN: “It has been very difficult for Stanley.

“People don’t always know what is going on with these players. They only see them on the field. They know them as footballers, but they don’t know that they are human beings too. Like everyone else, they go through life’s challenges.”

Lawal added: “After losing his parents, he became responsible for everything. There was a lot he needed to take care of.

“As a professional, he knew he had to keep playing, but it was affecting him and if he continued, he was going to destroy himself because when you’re not in the right mental state, it shows.

“You could see it during some of his games for the national team. People probably thought he was fighting with his teammates.”

Lawal added that the strain was already visible in Nwabali’s temperament, and fed some of the criticism that trailed him through Nigeria’s qualifying campaign and into the Nations Cup in Morocco.

He said: “If you look back, you’ll see the difference. Stanley used to be lively and always smiling. During the last AFCON and the World Cup qualifiers, he became unusually aggressive. He was shouting at teammates and confronting opponents. But that wasn’t the real Stanley.

“When he first started playing for Nigeria, everyone talked about how calm he was under pressure. Later, people thought he had become overconfident or aggressive. They didn’t know what was happening inside him.”

The grief had already pushed the goalkeeper to the very edge. At AFCON, before his exit, Nwabali said publicly that he had told his captain Wilfred Ndidi that he wanted to quit, and had only continued after teammates talked him round.

The people close to him reached the same conclusion, according to Lawal: “We told him, ‘This isn’t you. Take time away before you do permanent damage to your career'”.

Still, even after the decision to step away was announced, Nwabali refused to say why, choosing to be cryptic in his morning-after interview with Metro FM.

“I might say goodbye now, but not forever,” he said at the time. “It was a strong decision, not a really nice decision and I felt it is best for me.

“The chairman has been like a father to me, understanding literally every day. When I talked to him, it was difficult to take that kind of decision, but he felt like it would be best for me.”

That interview did nothing to clear the air or douse speculation, but Lawal said it was important for the player to maintain his privacy.

“You ask why he and the club didn’t publicly say he was taking time off for his mental health. But it wasn’t something they planned together. Stanley simply realized he needed to step away and he asked to be released,” he said.

“People deal with things differently. At that time, he didn’t want to tell anyone what he was going through. He believed he could handle it himself. Sometimes you want to appear strong, but inside you’re suffering.

“These are private matters. He doesn’t owe anyone a detailed explanation about his personal life until he is ready to. Not everyone wants to make those things public, and people should respect that.

“It had nothing to do with the league, feeling bigger than the club, or receiving offers from elsewhere. He did it for himself so he could return to playing at the level he is capable of.

“He had a mutual understanding with the chairman of Chippa United, Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi.”

Still, he confirmed that offers came in for the goalkeeper during his time away but were all turned down: “There were many offers for him, and people thought those deals fell through. They didn’t.

“Stanley just decided he wasn’t ready to go back into football at that time. He needed to step away, grieve, deal with everything, and come back in a better state of mind.

“There was serious interest from Saudi Arabia, Africa even England, but once we explained the situation, they understood. Stanley decided to stay out of the game for a few months and get himself in order. ”

During his time out of the game, Lawal says Nwabali saw a mental health professional and is returning now because he is finally ready, and that he also enjoyed support from Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle, who stayed in constant communication with him.

Lawal said: “Now Stanley is ready. He’s more than ready. He’s taken the time he needed, and the national team coach Eric Chelle also supported him throughout the process, communicating with him constantly.

“He had people who believed in him and gave him the space to heal.

“People only realize these things after tragedies. They start looking back and saying the signs were there all along. Sometimes a person simply needs someone to ask how they’re really doing. You can be physically okay but not mentally okay.

“We have seen it with players who were here and one day and the next day they were gone.”

The cordial nature of the separation, and the good relations between player and club, made it easy for Nwabali to return to Chippa after his time out of football.

“He maintained a good relationship with Chippa United,” said Lawal. “The chairman understood his situation because Stanley explained everything. If Stanley had left after fighting with the chairman or forcing his way out, the club would never have welcomed him back.

“Because they understood why he needed to leave, they were happy to receive him again. That’s why he’s back, and there’s no better place for him to restart than Chippa United.

“Another reason why he returned to Chippa United is because they already know him. If he had joined a new club after being out for several months, they would only know him as a goalkeeper, not as a person. They wouldn’t understand everything he had been through.

“At Chippa, everyone knows him. They understand him. Instead of starting from the bottom in a new environment, he is returning to a place where people know who he is. That gives him the best chance to get back to the level he was at before.”