Sebastian Broderick, former Golden Eaglets coach, dies after ‘long-term illness’

Sebastian Broderick, former head coach of Nigeria’s U-17 male national team, has died at 85.

Harrison Jalla, chairman of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN) Task Force, said the former Golden Eaglets head coach died in the early hours of Wednesday.

Jalla said the deceased had been bedridden “for a long time”.

“Veteran Coach Sebastian Broderick Imaseun, who won Nigeria’s first world cup at the under 17 level, is no more,” Jalla wrote.

“The coach who has been bedridden for a long time died in the early hours of this morning, according to family.”

The late coach had reportedly battled stroke and diabetes for over a year.

Broderick, nicknamed Sabara, was Nigeria’s coach when the country won the maiden FIFA/Kodak U-16 World Cup in China in 1985.

He also led Nigeria to the second edition of the age-grade World Cup in Canada in 1987, where the team won the silver medal after losing to the defunct Soviet Union in the final.

Broderick was also once an assistant to former Super Eagles technical adviser Clemens Westerhof.

Born in Benin City in 1938, Broderick attended St John’s Primary School, Onitsha, before gaining admission into Bishop Shenahan College Orlu in 1955, and obtained his West African Schools Certificate (WASC) in 1960.

He was also a footballer and played for the defunct Electricity Corporation of Nigeria Football Club of Lagos (ECN FC), where he won the Challenge Cup in 1970. He represented the Nigerian football team at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968.