James Bannatyne is the goalkeeping coach at Red Bull Ghana. Photo / Supplied
After being part of the unforgettable 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa, former All White James Bannatyne has found himself back on the African continent.
Bannatyne is the goalkeeping coach at Red Bull Ghana, one of five teams around the world associated with the Austrian drinks maker.
Less than a year ago he was coaching kids on deserted fields in New Zealand but his move sums up the truly global nature of the sport.
Bannatyne had also previously worked for the Oceania Football Confederation - he estimates he travelled to every country in the Confederation at least once - and was recommended for the Red Bull job by a French associate. He was flown to Austria, interviewed at the Red Bull headquarters in Salzburg by academy head Hans Leitert, who was goalkeeping coach at Spurs for a period under Juande Ramos. The New Zealander also got to visit their top secret sports science laboratory in a small Austrian town.
"There was a Red Bull sign about the size of a business card on the door," recalls Bannatyne. "It is where they develop all of their sports science and technology across all their global sport. It was very Star Trek; lots of underground tunnels and security doors."
The Ghana academy (the first team plays in Ghana's second division) is part of a global project - the beverage company also owns teams in Austria, Germany, Brazil and the United States.
The Ghana academy houses 65-70 players at any one time, with most living on the premises where they also complete schooling. The majority of the players are drawn from Ghana, with some from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Togo.
"There is a lot of pressure," says Bannatyne, whose international career stretched from 2001-2010, though most of that time he was stuck behind men like Mark Paston and Glen Moss. "To get an opportunity like this can change their lives - and not just in relation to football. There is pressure from the whole family and they take that quite heavily. The intensity around training is far superior to Kiwi kids."
Bannatyne looks after 12 goalkeepers, including the national under-17 keeper. It's a labour of love in a challenging environment. The academy facilities are "superb, world class" but they are based two hours from the capital .
"I guess it is just like you would imagine," says Bannatyne, when describing his surroundings. "There are a lot of dusty roads, mud huts and sheep and goats. Most people have never experienced Western life but it is quite moving - the happiness of the people when they have so little."
Bannatyne has been in Africa just a few months but already has plenty of tales. He has seen scorpions and snakes, held a crocodile by the tail and come across insects the size of your hand. Trips across the border to Togo are as frightening as they are fascinating, with all manner of carnivorous delights and other animal produce in 35-degree heat with little or no refrigeration. Termites were the appetiser for one meal, which Bannatyne reports have an "interesting texture."
Football facilities vary greatly. Pictures of the academy reveal perfectly manicured fields with sprinkler systems and the latest artificial turf but the local fields can be quite different.
"I've seen one field that was maintained by machete," says Bannatyne. "It was getting quite long and while the sheep and goats do their best the locals came through and gave it a chop to tidy it up. Another one didn't have a single blade of grass - there was just a small patch under the goal."
The potential for developing and exporting footballing talent from Africa has long been recognised by European clubs. Near the Red Bull operation in southern Ghana are two other academies, including one run by Dutch club Feyenoord.
Ghana is an obvious base; the national team reached the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals (denied a historic semifinal place only by the infamous Luis Suarez hand ball) and also made the last 16 in 2006.
The future of the Red Bull Academy in Ghana is uncertain - it has been put up for sale and there are said to be several interested parties - but it appears Bannatyne has landed on his feet. He is likely to stay within the Red Bull operation, possibly moving to their facility in Brazil, based just out of Sao Paulo.
"That would be quite an opportunity," says Bannatyne.
It also might be a good way for more regular family reunions. Brother Stuart has done six Round the World yacht races, the most recent with Camper Team New Zealand. If he lines up for a seventh, the 2014-15 edition has two stopovers in South America's largest nation.