Painful story of how the Arabian sheik fell in love with Ireland's star at Grand Hotel

Grandy Hotel in Cana, 1976. One night hot summer, a rich man and a scanty man were standing in the elevator.

The affluent man was Prince Abdullah bin Naser [Abdullah bin Nasser]: grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia; son of former Reiyadh governor [Riyandh]; rich beyond imagination.

The Swiss man was Ima O'Kife [Eamon O'Keefe] footballer from Manchester [Manchester]; son of a press worker.

The men were returning from a casino. Abdullah was lost. He was always lost, but there is no connection. If you're a Saudi prince, there's a few thousand dollars to make for a meal and no more.

My mother was not a gambler, but she had won. Two years ago he was playing for Pljuth Argyle's backupists [Plymouth Argyle] in the third category of English football, and wanted to make money for his electricity clock.

Now, it was flying on a private plane; first - class aircraft, in five - star hotels, on a tour of Europe with one of the richest families in the world.

And then, in the elevator, Abdullah returns to Imman.

I was going to tell you something,” told Abdullah. He put his hand on Imman's arm. I think I love you. ”

My mother could smell a prince's breath; cigarettes and whiskey Johnny Walker. He's nervous, he answers. You mean like a brother?

“ “Not like a brother. ”

And this, on that summer night in Cannes, was the point where a big trouble opened, translated by the BBC, Periscope.

My mother, now 65 years old, grew up in Britain and after World War II in a small house in Blackley [Blackley] in North Manchester. He had three brothers, two sisters, and a dog named Grant. He too lived with them. But where did all these people sleep?

And I'm surprised,” he says at a Manchester hotel, smiling at memories.

His father, an Irishman, led the men's team to soccer at St. Claire's Catholic Church. His mother washed and ironed clothes.

Imman's house was near the park where he was going out and playing, in Manchester's wet grass, until darkness fell. He was a good football player; he was chosen by Manchester School and by Manchester United's youth team [Manchester United] until, in a match against Altrinchem [Altricham], he broke his leg [up to fifteen minutes after this photo was fired]. It was a shame, and yet it was very sad.

In my left, second with Manchester Boys. I broke my leg just 15 minutes after this photo” he said.

George, who had worked in Iceland before, left Stelliberage to manage Al-Heilall [Al-Hilal], one of the largest clubs in Saudi Arabia. A little later, Imí left the club, who went south to play for Plojmouth.

But there was a terrible payment, socie paid neither the rent nor played less than a competition edition. Before returning home, he received a letter.

All-in.

The mailbox was in Arabic.

I was driving his car in the Saudi desert.

The letter was from his former coach, George Smith. He wanted Ime to fly to Saudi Arabia for a month's trial. If he were to impress you, he would become the first European to sign Al-Hill.

It was November, and I think it even snowed [in Manchester],” says Ime. I thought it wasn't bad. ”

But it was not just the good weather that invited him there. My mother had married and had two children; the passage to Saudi Arabia meant paying the mortgage for the house faster than I thought.

He went to London and flew to the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, via Cairo [Cairo] and Jedah [Jeddah]. When he had arrived at Jedah, he knew that it was a whole different world. A Saudi official took his Sunday Express away, took a pair of scissors, and began cutting pictures of women, leaving them alone.

It could be worse, says Imune: The man next door was holding the News of The World.

Culture shocks had only begun. In Riyadh, George waited on the runway, sitting in a beautiful car. At home, I was assigned to a Minnie Morris.

My mother was a 22-year-old who didn't even have a home. She was in another universe. It was not just a heat or palm trees or a bright desert that stretched all over the horizon. That was the dagger.

Spectacular formation in 1960. [Pryscopi translators: The intergovernmental organisation with already 14 constituent nations, founded in Baghdad by the first five members, and the oil crisis in 1973, meant that the Saudi economy was prospering. Between 1970 and 1980, the country's economy grew by nearly 3 thousand percent. He was diving in oil, and big men made big money. I'd fight one of them.

For the first time, Imma saw Prince Abdullah bin Naser at the location where she trained with Al-Hillall in Riyadh.

It was still on trial, when he was playing a controlling match and the club president came, Abdullah, with a blue Buick. From the field, I saw a pair of eyes looking out the window.

George told me: “He's the man the president. He decides yes or not to [the contract]. So tell them.

My mother had shown herself to score two amazing goals.

Whatever you were thinking, “told George Smith about his financial application, “added another zero. ”

After the match, Imma was still in the dark when she met the prince. Abdullah asked him if the hotel was okay; He told me he did. Abdullah asked whether George was pleased; George said it was.

Then go to the hotel and write me what you want,”

Imma and George made a list - money, car, apartment, flights to England, and private lessons for Imani's two children when they reached school age. The next time they trained, the Blue Bouc came back, and George gave Abdullah the list.

“It's okay, he said”

In his home, Imé took 50 Euros [40 pounds] a week, plus 15 others when he played. His new salary was 170 [140 pounds] which makes 1,300 today, according to inflation data at the Bank of England. There were no taxes, no bills, no worries.

Ima was the first European to play in Saudi Arabia

With the contract signed, Immy returned to Manchester, packed his bags, and returned to the hot Riyadh with his family. First they lived at the hotel and they didn't pay for anything.

The woman was hired at the National Bank of the City and received a good salary, and as Al Hillal received training only twice a week, Ima spent her time in the pool, taking care of the children, and talking about soccer with George. They were happy days in the desert.

From the beginning, Abdullah loved my mother. He bought him a new car, “A Pontiac Ventura [Pontic Ventura]” and often invited him to tea. They watched football on a big television [luks was this allegation in 1976] or they talked to Abdullah's brothers.

In the field, things were also good. Imani liked his fellow players, and the team managed to arrive at the semifinals of the King's Cup [to lose to the penalty by their rivals, Al-Nasri.] Saudi Arabia wasn't perfect. It was once the mother of the woman came to a public square where some convicts were being whipped, with children in the back seat, but life was good.

When the season ended, he returned to England on vacation. But before returning, Abdullah got her home phone number.

I'm going on a trip to England too,” told the prince. We need to meet. ”

After three weeks in England, Abdullah telephoned her at her mother's home, where she was staying with her family. My mother had been outside while my mother accepted the call.

He had told them and then he had called Carlton Tower, a hotel in London. Two days later he was on the train headed for Euston. A driver met him at the station.

Even in London he was enjoying Saudi money.

Later, a prince's assistant had returned to Riyadh, and Abdullah asked Imine if he wanted to go with him on the trip. Later they went to Paris, then to Cana, Rome, Cairo, and Saudi Arabia. Abdullah's wife wanted to buy furniture; the prince planned to throw dice at European casinos.

My wife and children were on their way to Wales, so Imune agreed. A week later, he was in a limo in Heathrow, ready for the big tour of “Prince Qeddo-his name”.

At this point, they were friends. Ian and Abdullah, strange friends.

We were going well, laughing all the time,” said Ime. I guess all those ass-fuckers around him got mad. ”

At Charles de Gol Airport [Charles de Gaulle], Saudi ambassador had met the prince and his entourage. With banners in the car, and things like that,” was describing the Ime scene.

He'd been in Paris where he'd spent the best time sleeping as a happy man. But beautiful dreams wouldn't last.

Emma O'Kife, Prince Abdullah bin Nasser and one of his wives at Barrakuda, London in 1976.

Two days later, they went to Cana, where they were at a casino.

After Abdullah did what he did, the elevator suddenly seemed smaller, Imune said.

The prince had made his feelings clear, but so had Ime. He wasn't gay [gay] as prince. There was no interest in an erotic relationship with him. He wanted to be a soccer player, and nothing else.

“There were some 15 seconds [until the elevator door opened],” said Imman. “But it seemed like a month. He had a terrible cold. ”

At that moment, the whole trip was broken. The atmosphere had changed, and so had the route. Instead of spending three nights in Rome, they spent only one; instead of stopping in Cairo, they went straight to Riyadh.

It was like ice,” remembers me.

He was ashamed, but not worried. In the elevator, Abdullah had told him that their relationship would turn into the one between “the president and player”, and Imma had believed it.

I never thought for a minute that I was in any danger,” he said. I thought I had the contract, we'd go back to normal. ”

After returning to Riyadh, this changed. Homosexuality was and it's still illegal there, and the royal family was, and it's still all powerful. Imma wouldn't reveal Abdullah's secret [that he was gay] but what if Abdullah felt under pressure?

I felt sad. Klaustrophobic. Paranoid, maybe. He went and told George what he had done to get support. He didn't take it.

It's not going to stop, you idiot,” told George.

George Smith is 84 years old, he still watches football and still only when he explodes with stories from his long career. Do you remember me? Oh, yeah, the “he said on the phone from Rochdale. I made it professional. ”

George's stories dance from Saudi Arabia to Iceland, from Oman to Bahrain. But, Imman liked it, and even before the tour of Europe with the prince, his coach had been worried. My father spent a lot of time with Abdullah, he thought, and Abdullah spent a lot of money on Emine.

I thought they were very close, and the president [Abdullah] knew,” he said. He knew I cared about it. ”

When George heard what had happened in Cana, he told Imani to leave Saudi Arabia for his safety immediately. “He was in danger,” he says. “Anything could happen. ”

“

God knows. Accident of some form. He was interfering with the royal family. You can't do that. ”

My mother was yellow. He knew a secret about one of the most powerful men in the country, and that put him at risk. He spent the night in George's hood, staring at the ceiling. He was 22 years old, away from home, and scared. His family was in England, and he could not let them return to Riyadh.

But there was a problem.

I am now retired, but still works my part on Everton.

To leave the country, his boss had to sign an exit visa and Prince Abdullah was his chief. For Emine, Saudi Arabia always seemed excellent. But now, it looked like a great cage.

My mother was up in the clock with the decision to lie.

He would tell Abdullah that his father was sick and had to return to England. He went to the prince's residence, told the lie, and waited for his reaction. Abdullah listened but made no decision. He made her sweat. We'll discuss it tomorrow, he said.

It was another long night. The five-day hotel in Paris, where it had slept without a gail in the world, seemed already very remote.

The next day, Imma went to the club to meet Abdullah. The prince closed the wind and told the staff not to disturb him. Imman remembers the prince sitting at the head of his big table.

The prince asked him. I can't believe you're coming back. ”

As my mother tried to convince him that she would return, Abdullah issued a chemistry and a letter. Easy, says Ime, he started writing in Arabic. It was a deal. My mother would return to his home, but only for a week.

All he had to do was sign.

But I couldn't read in Arabic. He could be signing an agreement that would keep his life in Arabia. So he couldn't sign.

But he couldn't even throw away the deal. If he did, the prince would never let him go. He thought, quickly, and he decided to do what he now calls the “Blf of life”.

Would you like me to sign this thing? I have to trust this contract in Arabic and you don't trust me? Okay, no problem. ”

My mother took the chemical and wanted to sign it. At the last moment, Imé says, Abdullah took the letter, tore it, and threw it into the trash can.

I'll arrange a flight,” said.

The next day, Imma went to the airport. He took clothes just for a week so that Abdullah would not believe that he would not return. Was he still afraid?

"Absolutely," he said. Because if he [Abdullah] means you won't fly, you won't fly and you won't fly. Even when the plane left, I was worried. ”

After landing in London, he happily hit the chair. But the problems were over. To continue his career in England, he had to register in the FA [Soccer Association]. To register at the Football Association as a football player, a letter from Saudi Arabia missed him.

After he had spoken to the FA, Iman had received a fax from Riyadh asking:

- About 10 thousand Euros [8,000 pounds] for breaching the contract.

- About 1300 Euros for breaking air conditioner in his apartment.

About 500 Euros of debt to Abdullah.

-Minus, the month-long pay the club owed him.

My mother could take point one and four. The others, he said, were revenge from Abdullah. The air conditioning had not been broken. And he never borrowed money from the prince.

But, Jimmy Hill, one of the most famous men in English football in the '70s, had helped out and he was out with a few thorns on his feet.

My mother was chosen to play for the National of Ireland against England

By the time Immy returned to England, he had been financially devastated.

He couldn't take wages that were in Saudi accounts so he had to sell his house at Oldham.

After several successes in amateur football, with Mossley's team, he had signed for Everton in the first English category [now Premier League]. He had played 40 times for that club and scored six goals before he moved to the Artical Wiga [Wigan Aztec]. He had also played for England five times, including a match against England in Wembley [Wembble].

As for the prince, authorities from the club have refused to comment on the case. Abdullah's grandfather Ibn Saudi, founder of the country, had 45 sons. Of these, 36 had other children, one of whom had been Abdullah.

My mother keeps living in Manchester, and she's being treated for cancer successfully.

I wanted the time I spent in Saudi Arabia. How could anyone not want to live like that? I wanted my team friends, everything was fine. We were happy. ”

Eight years ago, Imma wrote his autobiography. His title well grasps his simple life. I just wanted to play football”. /PERISCOP