Rachael Ayegba, a former Super Falcons of Nigeria goalie, is now a bus driver in London, England.
Ayegba played for the Falcons in the 2007 Women’s World Cup.
She also played in the 2006 and 2008 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, and she spent 11 years as a professional in Finland, winning the league title with PK-35 Vantaa in 2013.
The former shot stopper, who is a year into his training, now drives the number 185 between Lewisham and Victoria.
The 35-year-old, who relocated to England in 2018, says she had spent years visiting London on vacation and had always adored the double decker buses.
She works for Go-Ahead, the bus and rail company that operates around one-fifth of the capital’s buses on behalf of Transport for London.
She reckons driving a bus and playing in goal have a lot in common, which is about safety first and about not making a mistake.
“When you are trying to save the ball, you need safe hands. But there are ten others on your side,” she was quoted on Evening Standard.
“When you drive a bus, you are on your own.”
“Mentally you have to be 100% ready, if you are a goalkeeper the defenders can help you. You can’t make any mistakes driving a bus.”
On the issue of bus drivers not getting enough respect, she said:“They don’t. I think we just see a bus driver as a nobody. I see them more like a pilot, if anything goes wrong, it’s on them. Now I’ve done the training, the people I respect most, after my family, are the drivers.”
