A battle against adversity – The NLP meets Nortei Nortey

(Photo: Matt Bristow)
By Matt Badcock
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE to imagine what Nortei Nortey has been going through this season. It’s impossible not to be impressed by how he is using it to make the best of himself.
Before Dover Athletic played Margate in pre-season, the 23-year-old found out older brother Leon had passed away from sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
“It’s day by day,” Nortey says. “It’s not nice. You won’t know what it’s like until something like that happens to you – and you never think something like that will happen. You always feel so sad for other people when they lose a loved one but you don’t think it’s going to happen to you. I feel for him as well. He was 28, he would be 29 now.”
Playing football has provided some solace.
“It’s the only thing that has, the only thing that’s helped keep my head on my shoulders otherwise I don’t know what I’d be doing,” Nortey says. “It takes your mind off things and releases a lot of energy. It’s been the hardest time of my life.
“He was my big brother, someone who always looked out for me. It’s been tough but I’ve been using it as inspiration. I just know he would want me to do well. He was always telling me what to do better – I’m just trying to better myself to get as high as possible.
“It’s hard, I have my days when it’s tough and I’m proper down sometimes. It’s been tough for the whole family but we’re there for each other.”
Nortey spent five years at Chelsea playing alongside peers Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as they won the FA Youth Cup.
But, as he grew, he suffered frustrating injuries that limited his playing time and, aged 19, he was released.
Nortey says Chelsea matured him, instilled discipline and many of the lessons he learnt in the Blues’ bubble he still carries with him today. But he admits he soon realised the harsh reality of the fight for a contract.
For two seasons he went around the country and abroad trying to earn himself a deal.
“It was hard,” Nortey says. “Clubs would be looking for first team experience and I didn’t have any. Perhaps I might not have been going to the right places but everything happens for a reason. Maybe I was supposed to be out and have a little break.
“I lost count of how many clubs I went on trial. I probably flew out of England 12 times in about 18 months – Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Ukraine, Greece, Spain, Finland, Scotland. I never wanted to give up. There was nothing else I wanted to do so I had no choice.
“I’d go on trials, sometimes stay for weeks. But after a year without a club they ask you what you’ve been doing and when you haven’t had one it becomes a massive uphill task. That was another tough time.
“You’re in a bubble and you don’t realise how tough it is outside academy football. It was weird going into other clubs, a big shock, and I realised, ‘Ok, this is where it gets real now. You’re going to have to change the way you play’. I literally realised that from the first training session and how hard it would be to get signed.
“I’d go somewhere, do really well, and still not get offered anything. Maybe I thought I would walk in somewhere but that wasn’t the case. I realised how hard I need to work.”

The rejections didn’t deter him from his goal. While searching for a club he would often take a bag of balls and cones to the local park to keep as sharp as he possibly could. Eventually Welling United offered him a chance. Initially he played for nothing knowing he needed to be playing men’s football before getting travelling expenses.
“They didn’t have a budget but I agreed to sign for no money if it meant I was going to get game time,” Nortey says. “If I didn’t do that then I wouldn’t be playing where I am now. I needed to play men’s football otherwise time would have just kept ticking on. I learnt a lot in that season.”
Although the Wings were unsuccessful in their fight against relegation, it was character building for Nortey with three different managers in the dug-out that season as they fought for vital points.
In summer 2016 he signed for Wrexham but the move didn’t work out and he finished the season helping Solihull Moors beat the National League drop on loan.
His performances got him a trial at Dover in the close season and he was soon signed by boss Chris Kinnear.
Playing in his preferred central midfield position, he is showing his talent. He’s scored three goals for the Whites, including a peach against Guiseley. Nortey sees Dover as a club that can help his ambitions while he helps theirs.
“I’d love to get promoted with Dover,” Nortey says. “We’ve got a really good young squad and I think we can get better. The league is so tight and we’re doing well.
“We’re all pushing each other to get better and improve. A lot of us are trying to push up the leagues to play as high as possible.
“Where that will be I’m not sure, but I’m trying to better myself all the time. I’ve got a lot of ex-team-mates and friends who are doing well, Curtis Tilt being one of them.
“I was at Wrexham with him last year, he’s at Blackpool now and doing really well. He’ll probably go on again. You see people make the step up all the time. You’re happy for them and it makes you want to push on as well.
“There’s a lot of talent in the lower leagues who haven’t had the chance to step up yet. You’ve got to be patient.”