Goalkeeper hopes to fly mum out for Wembley dream

Stephen Sarkodie moved to England from Ghana seven years ago

A goalkeeper who moved to England with a dream of playing at Wembley may fly his mother from Ghana to watch it come true.

Stephen Sarkodie arrived in England in 2018 to pursue his education at Hartpury University in Gloucestershire, and turned down a professional contract to put his studies first.

Mr Sarkodie, who learnt English before moving, said the language had been "the most challenging", but had shared his culture with his team by cooking them jollof - a traditional West African rice dish.

Now a Master's student, he will play against Whitstable Town with his Hartpury University team mates on Sunday in the Isuzu FA Vase semi-final second leg.

Mr Sarkodie told BBC Radio Gloucestershire he had been on "a long journey" since moving to England.

"I've always had a dream of getting a degree before I play football so I wanted to focus on that dream and that's how I ended up here," he said.

"In Ghana, going to school is one of the most important things to do and my mum has always supported that, so to fulfil my mum's dream, I just wanted to get a degree."

Mr Sarkodie said to move to England, he had to pass his English exam, but the language was not the only "challenging" aspect of moving thousands of miles from home.

Cultural differences

"The culture is quite different to where I was, everything is about church, Christianity and religion [in Ghana]," he said.

"I'm still drawn to my local food, I still eat that a lot. My favourite Ghanaian food is jollof - it is made of rice and tomato sauce - with plantain on the side.

"My favourite English food is mashed potato and sausages."

The Sports business management student said he introduced his team mates to jollof, and they thought it was "the best food in the world".

'Wembley dream'

Mr Sarkodie has special plans for 11 May at Wembley Stadium, if all goes well on Sunday.

"I'm going to fly my mum to England for the first time to watch me play at Wembley," he said.

"I've always had a dream of playing Wembley, the dream is not gone yet.

"We still believe, and I still believe, we're going to get there."