NY Times had detailed article in 26th Jan edition - my brother brought me a hard copy yesterday.
Again, their site requires subscription.
It is too long to photograph but some highlights:
A Kidnapped Coach and a Job that Didn't Exist
While being driven across the northern tip of Morocco Adrian Heath could not help but think of the places soccer had taken him.
The sport lifted him out of Newcastle-under-Lyme and carried him to Stoke City, then to Everton FC, where in 1982 he became the team's most expensive signing.
He later ventured to La Liga, signing with Espanyol in 1988. When his playing days were done, the sport took him to the US for coaching stints at Austin Aztec, Orlando City and Minnesota United.
The trip to Morocco was supposed to be another adventure: an interview for a coaching job in Saudi Arabia.
......he turned to look at his kidnapper in the drivers seat and wondered whether it would be soccer that now ended his life.
...For more than a year he kept his kidnapping quiet, outside of telling close friends and alerting the League Managers Association...then he got a call from the FBI agent in charge of his case. It had happened to another manager....He heard there might have been two cases before his.
...' It's like a movie or an episode of Homeland or something ' Heath said.
...a call came in 2024 asking if he would be open to a job in Saudi Arabia...the job was eventually filled by another but a few months later, he got another call from the same agent... they discussed salary, budget, accommodation in Saudi, healthcare...he made some calls to contacts including to Steven Gerrard. They all had good things to say about the club and working in the Saudi leagues...the agent said the club's owner wanted to meet with him...
He asked if Heath could meet in Morocco where the sheikh had hotels and other businesses...
There were no red flags because they'd had hours of conversations...
Two men greeted him at the airport..handed him flowers then ushered him to a sedan...after 40 minutes they turned off the main highways...
The car turned down an alley and stopped. The men guided him into a small apartment building and then into a sparsely furnished smoke-filled room...
'This is how it's going to work: you're going to send us money.'.
....the number was well in the six figures. ' And if you don't you won't see your wife again. You won't see your two kids and your grandkids '.
....Jane Heath was in bed when the call came. It was 6.30 am....'I need you to transfer some money' She made a split-second decision...' we changed bank accounts..
You're the head name...I can't transfer any money without you there'.
The captors hung up...called back. This time asked for less money but still six figures...Jane, in tears, stuck to her story....
Incredibly Heath's kidnappers had taken his phone but neglected to turn off location services.
...Heath told them '... bottom line, you're not getting any money...you can see that the only chance you've got in getting any money is me going home and me wiring it to you... you're going to have to trust me, but that's where we are '.
...the kidnapper walked into the room. 'Get your gear... I'm taking you to the airport '....near the airport the man grabbed him and shoved him out of the car. ..he had his passport, bag and wallet without $600 in cash...it was a miracle...
In all he had spent 24 hours in Morocco...in Minnesota Jane and the FBI were waiting...
'...the FBI were just saying "you're very very lucky to be back"'...and he feels fortunate to be alive..
'it gives everyone a chance to re-evaluate their life and what's actually important. And the only important thing is your family. Everything else is secondary.... I've got a new respect for how good our life is and how good I've had it...I still want to coach. I still want to get back out there. I've still got the enthusiasm.... I'm thinking this is it, this is the end of it all. But the next part of it is really me talking about it and then getting back into it now'.
Thanks be to God Inchy, one of my favourite players of the 80s, came through safely. What a woman Jane is!!!
