The reason Super Eagles goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali returned to Chippa United, months after terminating his contract by mutual agreement in February 2026, has now been revealed and it is deeply emotional.
His representative, Mohammed Lawal, speaking to ESPN, explained that Nwabali’s decision to leave Chippa United earlier this year was driven by overwhelming grief and a need to protect his mental health. The goalkeeper tragically lost his grandmother, father and mother within just two months, a period that left him emotionally shattered.
Lawal revealed:
It has been very difficult for Stanley. 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.
Softfootball understands that the emotional weight of these losses affected Nwabali’s behaviour on the pitch, leading to frustration, aggression and visible distress — a stark contrast to the calm, composed goalkeeper Nigerians had come to admire.
