'Special talent' Kwadwo Baah making waves at Rochdale after ballboy fame

Kwadwo Baah well remembers being rejected at the age of 14. “I knew it was coming so I was prepared but it was still a shock,” says the former Crystal Palace youth player thriving in League One with Rochdale. “I remember waking up one Tuesday after I had been released and it felt weird that I didn’t have to go to training. It felt like I was out of the system.”

Luckily for Baah, who had enjoyed a brief taste of fame in October 2016 as a Palace ballboy when he ran on to the pitch and put down the ball for a goal-kick in an attempt to stop West Ham’s goalkeeper from time-wasting, the Kinetic Academy gave him a second chance.

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“They helped me a lot to relax. I’ll be honest I wasn’t the perfect kid at Palace. I used to get in trouble and because of that I always had pressure on me and I didn’t enjoy football as much.”

Kinetic, based in south London, have helped 45 young players from some of the capital’s most deprived areas earn professional contracts since being founded by Harry Hudson after the 2011 riots. Internationals including Nigeria’s Joe Aribo and the Wales defender Rhys Norrington-Davies are among the graduates, but the success of Baah – a 17-year-old winger who has attracted interest from several clubs after dazzling performances for Rochdale this season – fills Hudson with as much pride.

“It’s very pleasing when you look through the leagues on a Saturday and see the number of boys who are starting and scoring goals,” Hudson says. “The best thing for me with Kwadwo is that he was at a challenging time in his life and I did worry about him. If he hadn’t found his focus through football then I don’t know where he might have ended up.”

Baah was spotted as a nine-year-old playing for Moonshot in Catford by Joe Shields, now Manchester City’s head of academy recruitment, and joined Palace but struggled with his behaviour there and at school. Those close to him say the ballboy episode was a good example of a sometimes over-exuberant approach that made him difficult for coaches and teachers to handle.

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“Everyone asks what made me do it and I can’t really find the right words to explain,” Baah says. “It was just an instinct – I realised the fans were getting frustrated and I was getting frustrated so when I saw what was happening I just ran on the pitch and put the ball down. After the game everyone was having a laugh and it wasn’t a big deal. But when I went back to training, all the coaches were talking to me and I remember being told that the manager [Sam Allardyce] was proud of me.”

In an interview with Palace’s website, a 13-year-old Baah was asked to describe his big moment. “Being on the pitch when you’re really famous and everyone starts cheering for you … it’s quite a good feeling,” he said.

Although the dream of starring at Selhurst Park was dashed a few months later when Baah was released, he joined Kinetic on the recommendation of Shields.

“They showed that they cared a lot and I was really grateful for that,” Baah says. “I had just come out of an academy and to go back to an environment where they have experienced coaches who used to be in academies themselves was really helpful for me to improve and become the player I am today.”

Thanks to a partnership with local schools and colleges, Kinetic students combine football development with studies. “They know education is very important,” Baah says. “Not everyone can make it as a professional so Kinetic helps a lot of people to have something else to fall back on.”

Hudson admits it was hard to persuade Baah to follow the right path. “There were definitely some instances when he didn’t get that right and then we had to try to bring him in line with us,” he says. “From the ages of 14 to 16 a lot of young boys go through some changes with their personality and behaviour anyway. You throw into the mix that with Kwadwo his identity as a footballer had been taken away when he was released and he had real trouble at school as well in terms of focusing.”

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Baah was promoted to playing with older age groups and made one appearance for non-league Whyteleafe, who Hudson has managed since 2018. Despite interest from several Premier League academies including City’s, Baah was persuaded to sign a scholarship contract at Rochdale in September 2019 after the manager, Brian Barry-Murphy, invited the 16-year-old to train.

“A club like us has to be able to offer something different,” says Barry-Murphy. “A lot of kids who come from academies have a very structured pathway and it’s all laid out for them. But Kwadwo’s journey has been totally different. I thought he would benefit much more from being amongst our squad, which is a really diverse group from different countries and different ages.

“He took to that like a duck to water and then before you knew it he was playing League One football. That development is priceless because he has been improving at a rate of knots. Once he had got a taste of league football you could tell it wasn’t as much of a challenge for him as normal kids.”

Baah, born in Germany to Ghanaian parents but raised in South Norwood, is eligible to play for several countries and was described by Barry-Murphy as a “special talent” after an inspirational performance in last month’s 5-0 thrashing of Wigan.

“I’ve heard quite a few rumours about other clubs being interested but that’s not really important to me right now,” Baah says. “What’s important is carrying on playing at Rochdale, scoring more goals and getting more recognition. There are certain areas I need to improve on but there’s more to come and I can show people what I’m made of.

“Rochdale have made me realise that I have to grow up and my behaviour has improved. I’ve matured a lot and I don’t do the stuff that I used to do when I was young. I’m around the senior players and you have to be professional. It’s had a massive impact on me growing up. One day I could end up in the Premier League, you never know.”