Teenage winger is thriving having found focus after release by Crystal Palace, where his push to halt time-wasting drew laughs
Kwadwo Baah well remembers being rejected at the age of 14. “I knew it was coming so I was prepared but it was still a shock,” says the former Crystal Palace youth player thriving in League One with Rochdale. “I remember waking up one Tuesday after I had been released and it felt weird that I didn’t have to go to training. It felt like I was out of the system.”
Luckily for Baah, who had enjoyed a brief taste of fame in October 2016 as a Palace ballboy when he ran on to the pitch and put down the ball for a goal-kick in an attempt to stop West Ham’s goalkeeper from time-wasting, the Kinetic Academy gave him a second chance.