Writer: Justice Ezi
Director: Kalungi Ssebandeke
Last Goal Wins is the first show playing in the Ryan Calais Cameron Season at Catford’s Broadway Theatre, a programme that showcases three new works from Lewisham-based writers. Supported by Cameron, who, of course, wrote For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, the season seeks to give a voice to the underrepresented Global Majority voices in the borough. Justice Ezi’s play does that through its examination of Nigerian identity as seen on the football pitch.
It’s a shame that Nigeria isn’t featuring in this year’s FIFA World Cup to give Last Goal Wins an extra layer of topicality, but the play’s interrogation of birthrights and patriotism is certainly something the media has discussed in the last few weeks. Ezi drops the audience right into the action when a white man comes to try out for the Nigerian national squad.
There are only two places left on the team. However, there are three men at the trial. Perhaps the most suitable is striker Victory (Benjamin Akintuyosi), who is proudly Nigerian with a strong CV; he once played for Charlton Athletic. He’s tried out for Nigeria many times and has never been selected. At the age of 29, time may no longer be on his side.
Goalkeeper Youssef (Alexander Lobo Moreno) is from London. With parents from both Nigeria and Morocco, he’s in the enviable position of being eligible for both those countries’ teams. With Morocco doing so well in this year’s World Cup, it’s no surprise that Youssef would rather be playing for them than for the nation that he proclaims is a “shithole”.
Michael (Cameron Forest) is probably the best player of the trio, impressing Victory and Youssef – and the audience – with his skills and tricks. He would be the perfect choice if only he weren’t white. But as Michael was born in Lagos, he’s every right to play for the team. Able to speak Nigerian Pidgin and knowing the words of the National Anthem, Michael is in many ways more Nigerian than Youssef.
However, soon-to-be manager Zanza is under pressure to diversify his team, but when Victory discovers the identity of the new sponsors, he feels utterly betrayed. Can he play for a team that is supported by a multinational business that once ravaged his land?
Ezi lays these ideas onto the stage, but cleverly refrains from telling the audience what to think or which side to rally behind. All three footballers are decent men, and all are making sacrifices in some way. Just as personable is Coach Kamso (Jerome Ngonadi), who attempts to keep the peace as best as he can. Even Zanza (Kossim Osseni), who embraces modernity, transforms into someone more human after his earlier pantomime-villain scenes.
With the whole floor of the studio space bedecked in Astroturf, director Kalungi Ssebandeke keeps the action fluid at all times. The players must dash around the stage, and the freeze-frame football scenes, while slightly reminiscent of Dear England, are excitingly constructed. Occasionally, some of the shouted lines get lost, with the result that some jokes don’t land as they should.
With two more plays coming this Autumn, Last Goal Wins sets up the Ryan Calais Cameron Season nicely. Topical and intelligent, Ezi’s play brings football home to Catford.
Runs until 12 July 2026
Cranes runs from 23 Sept -4 Oct, and How To Keep Warm in Winter runs 14-25 October 2026
