A footballer’s legacy is often defined by the level they have played at and the trophies they have lifted.
And while Frank Onyeka has already had his fair share of success – winning two league titles and a Danish Cup with FC Midtjylland, featuring in the Champions League and now playing regularly for Brentford in the Premier League – it is not an on-pitch moment that comes to his mind when asked about the highlight of his career to date.
In Benin City, Nigeria stands a house that Onyeka had built for his family after signing his first professional contract with Midtjylland.
The second oldest of five siblings, being able to provide those he loves most with a sense of safety and security was the ultimate reward for his hard work and perseverance.
“It was always something I hoped to do,” Onyeka recalls with great pride.
“We were renting from when I was born until I left, and I wanted to change something. I wanted to make my family comfortable. Now they don’t have to think about rent, electricity and food. Now they can do everything they want.
“It means so much for them to be able to say to their friends, ‘I’m going home’ – and not to somewhere they rent but their own place. Friends can come and visit. It means a lot to me.
“When I sit back and see how happy they are because of what I’m doing – to be able to give them what they want without any stress – it’s a really nice feeling.”
The boy from Benin
Onyeka reveals that his mother – albeit with his best interests at heart - wasn’t always so supportive of his ambitions.
Playing football with their friends on the street outside their home, Onyeka and his two brothers would scatter at the sight of her returning from work.
“We’d run away because we knew she was going to beat us,” he laughs.
“She was scared. She wanted us to study, because the opportunity of becoming a football player at that point was slim. She would rather I went to school than play football.
“Now she’s grateful and happy that I’m a football player – the happiest. Sometimes I remind her that she told me not to play!”
Onyeka continues: “People told me to quit football because there was nothing there, or I wouldn’t get anything, but I didn’t give up.
“I had to trek long distances to get to training. Sometimes I avoided taking the highway, so people wouldn’t see me and remind me why I needed to quit. I had to take other routes that were lonely.
“That was what I did every day and thank God it worked out. I used to play barefoot on concrete; now I can put on any shoes I want.”
A leap of faith
Aged 15, Onyeka played a game for Faith Motors Academy that changed his life.
Among those watching was Churchill Oliseh, owner and manager of FC Ebedei – a club with ties to Midtjylland in the Danish Superliga - and the man credited with discovering Nigerian international Obafemi Martins while he was playing street football in Lagos.
Despite Onyeka believing he was “the worst player on the pitch” having been asked by his coach to play in what was then an unfamiliar midfield role, Oliseh liked what he saw.
“I must have done a few things to catch the eye,” Onyeka smiles.
Mentor: with FC Ebedei owner Churchill Oliseh (image courtesy of Churchill Oliseh)
Joining FC Ebedei meant moving away from home for the first time. Sagamu, Ogun-State, where the academy is based, is more than 250km from Benin City, but Onyeka - who had taken to mending roofs after school to support his family - knew he had to go.
“I told my mum it was something I needed to do because this was my dream,” he says.
“She was scared, her son leaving just like that to a place where he didn’t know anyone, but the owner [Oliseh] told her that everything was going to be fine and that she didn’t need to worry.
“I was in an academy with all the other players – be there, eat there, sleep there, go for training.
“It was hard, missing home and missing family, but I think that’s why I have a strong mentality. Once I’ve seen it, I know what I want.”
Journey to the unknown
Onyeka was rewarded for his sacrifice as, in late 2015, he and two of his FC Ebedei team-mates were invited for a trial by FC Midtjylland.
The teenage trio – bonded by their shared ambition and what at times became an overwhelming sense of culture shock – stuck together following their arrival in Denmark.
“Anywhere we went, we went together,” says Onyeka.
“The weather wasn’t the same - the first day I got sick – and the food wasn’t easy. We could not cope with the food: Kartofler [potatoes caramelized in sugar], beef. We hardly ate rice or pasta – maybe once in a week.
“The language was also a barrier. It took me time to learn people’s names, because it was quite different in how they were pronounced.
“It was good that I had people from my country around me. There were other players who had taken the same step as us [Paul Onuachu, Babajide David, Sylvester Igboun and Izunna Uzochukwu].
“They told us to push hard, train well and hope for the best.”
Given three months to earn a professional contract, Onyeka put the advice of his fellow FC Ebedei alumni into practice.
“Frank greeted the other players on the pitch with a tackle – he really went all in,” FC Midtjylland president Claus Steinlein recalls.
“These kids in Nigeria endure a tougher life than us. They are not born with the same opportunities in life. They need to fight to get opportunities, and they need to seize them when these opportunities present themselves.”
“I gave everything,” Onyeka adds. “It was an opportunity that I had to take. I wanted to be a Midtjylland player, I wanted to get a contract and I wanted to show them how good I was. I didn’t want to go back home until I got what I wanted.”
But Onyeka, despite his best efforts, did head home empty-handed – initially, that was.
With his trial at an end, Onyeka boarded a flight to Nigeria unsure if he would return to Midtjylland. Frank was up in the air and so was his future.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen,” he reveals.
“We went back home and began training with the academy [FC Ebedei] again. We did not hear anything. Back to square one.
“I asked my friend if they’d [Midtjylland] called him, and he said ‘Yes, Churchill has told me I’m going back.’ I hadn’t heard anything, so he told me to go and ask Churchill. I was so scared; so stressed.
“Boldly, I went up to Churchill and asked him if I should call my parents. ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,’ he said, ‘I didn’t tell you?!’
“And that was the point I knew I was going back to Denmark.”
Silverware
Having returned to Midtjylland on an 18-month contract in January 2016, Onyeka impressed for the club’s youth sides and made his first-team debut in a 7-0 Danish Cup victory over Greve Fodbold in September 2017, scoring six minutes after his introduction as a second-half substitute.
His Superliga debut, which came in February 2018, followed a similar script. With 85 minutes on the clock and Midtjylland 1-0 up, Onyeka entered the fray…
“After five minutes, I scored my first goal,” he smiles.
“It was a dream come true: my first league game, my debut, and I scored a goal. It was a huge moment. Those were happy days for my family and my host family. It was special.”
With the opening goal of the game scored by fellow Nigerian Paul Onuachu, it was a victory that underlined the value of Midtjylland’s partnership with FC Ebedei.
And, similarly to Onuachu – a towering centre-forward who made his Premier League debut for Southampton against Brentford in February 2023 – Onyeka went on to establish himself as a key member of Midtjylland’s squad.
The midfielder played eight of Midtjylland’s nine games in the Superliga championship round, providing two goals and an assist, as the club ended the season as champions, four points clear of Brøndby: “My first season as a player, I won a trophy. That’s not a bad start!”
Nicknamed ‘Frank the Tank’ by assistant coach Kristian Bach Bak, Onyeka had quickly developed a reputation as a fearless, all-action, tough-tackling midfielder.
He interjects: “Actually, during my time at Midtjylland, I played in some different positions as well: right winger, centre-back, striker.
“Some people say 6 is my strongest position, and some people say 8. I like to play centre-midfield because my biggest strength is winning the ball and I like going forward, playing as an 8 with two sitters, and with the chance to get up and down.”
More silverware followed during the 2018/19 campaign, as Midtjylland beat Brøndby on penalties before a 30,000-strong crowd at Parken to lift the Danish Cup for the first time in their history.
Onyeka made 32 appearances and scored four goals the following campaign as Midtjylland won the Superliga for a second time in three seasons.
“This was the season that I really showed myself and expressed myself on the pitch,” he states.
“I only missed a few games because of suspension – too many yellow cards [laughs] – and I was really, really happy. It was a great success for me and the club.
“The points gap to Copenhagen [14] showed the other teams that we were better than them – they couldn’t come close. Every place we went, we won.”
Champions: celebrating Midtjylland’s title triumph with Evander Ferreira and Paulinho after a 3-1 over Copenhagen (9 July 2020)
After three successful years, Onyeka felt the time was right for a fresh challenge. The club, however, did not share his view.
Midtjylland president Steinlein picks up the story: “There was an understanding between us and Frank that we would try to sell him in the summer of 2020.
“Frank knew that if he left for a bigger club, his dream of helping his family in Africa would be possible. His dream of being financially independent would be within his reach too if he switched clubs.
“But we, as a club, didn’t feel it was the right time, and this is what we told Frank.”
Steinlein continues: “I remember I wore a light blue shirt, but on this day, in one of the boxes at the stadium, my light blue shirt almost turned dark blue because I was sweating.
“The atmosphere was tense. Frank was very direct in his language; he is not usually like that. He told me: ‘You need to understand how much this means to me.’”
Onyeka remembers the conversation just as vividly…
“I wanted to leave,” he admits. “At that point I felt that I’d had my time in Denmark and done everything.
“That step would take me to the next level, which was security not just for me but for my family, and that’s why I was pushing for it.
“I wanted to move on to the next stage, but [Steinlein] told me I needed to stay. I was so pissed, so pissed.
“But I could be pissed and still show up for training and do the right thing.”
A dream come true
Despite being unable to secure a move that summer, Onyeka continued to perform and was, in fact, able to experience a higher level of competition during the 2020/21 campaign.
Having overcome Ludogorets, Young Boys and Slavia Prague in qualifying, Midtjylland were drawn alongside Atalanta, Liverpool and Ajax in the Champions League group stage.
Different level: vying for possession with Liverpool’s Diogo Jota during a Champions League game at Anfield (27 October 2020)
Midtjylland bowed out of the competition in December, drawing 1-1 with Atalanta and Liverpool in their final two games.
And for Onyeka and his team-mates, going shoulder-to-shoulder with Europe’s elite was an eye-opening experience.
“We didn’t know what was coming,” Onyeka admits.
“We were the best team in Denmark, and we thought that we could play our way.
“We played Atalanta in the opening game, one of the best teams in Italy, and before we knew what was going on it was 1-0, 2-0, 3-0… 4-0!
“There are different levels in football, and we realised it that night.
“But I can’t find the words to express how I was feeling - it was a huge moment for me.
“Every player wants to play in the Champions League; it was a dream come true.”
Big game player
A 3-1 loss to title rivals Brøndby, followed by a 1-1 draw with Randers and a 4-2 defeat to Copenhagen, meant that Midtjylland’s fate was out of their hands on the final day of the 2020/21 campaign.
Brian Priske’s side did what they needed to do – Onyeka assisting the second goal in a 4-0 victory over Aarhus on 24 May – but Brøndby beat Nordsjaelland 2-0 to clinch the Superliga title by a single point.
“It was a really sad one, because we lost it ourselves,” says Onyeka.
Five days later, Onyeka’s fate was out of his hands once again – and this time he wasn’t even on the pitch.
At Wembley Stadium, Brentford faced Swansea City in the Championship play-off final, with a place in the Premier League the reward for the winner.
“The agreement was that if Brentford were promoted, I would join,” Onyeka reveals.
“I didn’t watch the game. I was checking the score on my phone, saw they won and thought, ‘Ah, happy days!’”
In July, Onyeka was announced as a Brentford player. He admits he knew very little about the club before joining but spoke with former Bee Lasse Vibe – a team-mate at Midtjylland during the 2019/20 season – before putting pen to paper.
“He told me that Brentford is a good club and that I was going to love it there – and he was right,” Onyeka smiles.
The midfielder was in the starting XI as Brentford beat Arsenal on the opening night of their first Premier League season and featured regularly until December.
In at the deep end: Onyeka started against Arsenal on the opening night of the 2021/22 Premier League season
But after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, he found his opportunities limited from February onwards, playing just three games during the second half of the campaign.
Last term, Onyeka was called upon for some of the Bees’ toughest Premier League assignments. Labelled a “great pressing player” by head coach Thomas Frank, six of Onyeka’s eight starts came against sides that finished in the top half.
He assisted Ivan Toney during the 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion in October; was a tireless presence as Brentford did the double over champions Manchester City; and anchored the midfield alongside Vitaly Janelt as the Bees beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
“It was good, but it wasn’t the best,” Onyeka admits. “As a player you want to play every game, but it is what it is.
“I have the mentality that, when I’m called upon, I’ll always do my best and show my quality on the pitch.”
After a stop-start couple of seasons, Onyeka has been able to build some momentum this term.
He has featured in 16 of Brentford’s 20 Premier League games so far and signed a new four-year contract in August.
Of players to win more than 20 tackles for Brentford this season, Onyeka (77 per cent) has the best success rate - ahead of Ethan Pinnock (75 per cent) and Saman Ghoddos (69 per cent).
“Right now, I feel more comfortable, doing what I’m doing and playing my game,” he says.
“Thomas has put that trust in me to do on the pitch and do what I do. For me, knowing that the coach has trust in me is so important.”
For the time being, though, Onyeka’s attention is elsewhere.
Currently in Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations, Onyeka – who scored his first international goal against Mozambique last October – insists that Nigeria’s ambition for the tournament is clear.
"We want to win it,” he says. “We have such a good team, such a good squad, so we are going there to win it. That’s the ambition for the players, the coach and the federation. Let’s go there and win it.
“We’re representing our country – more than 200 million people. Growing up, this is something you want to do. Putting on that shirt is big.”