Winger has overcome tragedy and mental health problems. Now he wants to give his football career ‘one last push’
Jordon Ibe was not supposed to go to the park that day. He reiterates the point several times when recalling the events of 17 June 2008. Ibe’s mum had forbidden his attendance at Tabard Gardens in Southwark, south-east London, but he went anyway; a kickabout was too much of a draw for the then 12‑year‑old. That day Ibe witnessed his friend David Idowu being stabbed through the heart. A few weeks later, Idowu died.
“I’d not even seen a butter knife,” Ibe says. The cadence of his voice has slowed, his words so soft they are virtually inaudible. “To see that happen in front of me … my friend wasn’t about that life. He got stabbed because he had the wrong school uniform on. I saw it and ran out of the park, ran home. I remember seeing myself on the news on the CCTV.
Continue reading…
