Footballer bounces back from cancer to co-found club

A former footballer whose playing career was cut short by cancer has said co-founding a club in Dubai aimed at "giving people second chances" felt like "a massive achievement".

Bader Al-Akkad, from Manchester, had to leave Stockport County's academy side after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021, ending his dreams of a professional contract.

After being given the all-clear, he started Phoenix United with his brother Amer, 27, to provide both sporting and academic opportunities to those wanting to follow their own footballing dreams.

"It's been a long journey of building... and to take this step now has been a massive achievement for us," said Bader, who is preparing for the side's first season in the UAE Third Division.

Bader and Amer were born in Manchester to Syrian parents, but spent their early years in Damascus after his family returned there.

They left Syria for the UK in 2012, a year after anti-government protests and a violent crackdown had escalated into conflict.

Bader and his family sought refuge with relatives in Manchester.

He said they flew from Damascus to London on what he remembers as the last international flight out of the Syrian capital before services were cancelled.

The family initially thought their move would be temporary, but Bader said their plans changed as the war worsened but he still holds the country close to his heart.

"I'm incredibly proud of being Syrian," he said.

"I love most things that Syrians stand for, but also I'm incredibly proud of being from Manchester because Manchester has given us so much whilst being here."

He added that his new life in Dubai brought the Middle Eastern and British parts of his life together.

He said football had always been a central part of his family's story as his grandfather had been a professional footballer who had played for Syria's first national team after the country gained independence from France in 1946.

Bader joined Rochdale's youth system aged 12 before moving to Stockport County at 16, remaining there until he was 20.

He said he was approached by the Syrian Football Association about playing for the country's under-15 and under-18 sides, but he rejected both approaches because he did not want to support the country's government.

He said he believed accepting would have been "a disrespect to people's memories" and though the decision may have cost him contracts in Asia, he said he was glad he had "stuck with my morals".

Bader said he enjoyed his four years at Edgeley Park and was supported by County's coaches and staff.

"I loved my time at Stockport, I loved everything about it," he said.

He said he finished his first season strongly and was "knocking in and around the first team", believing he had a chance to move up the ranks.

His closest involvement with the senior side came before Stockport's FA Cup third-round tie against Premier League West Ham United in January 2021, where Bader said he was "in the matchday squad".

He said he was one of several academy players given Covid tests so they could act as contingency cover if the first-team squad was affected by the virus.

"It was a proud moment for me," he said.

Bader said he began the next pre-season well, but by September 2021, his breathing had become difficult and information from the GPS monitors the players wore in training showed his high-intensity running data "had fallen off a cliff".

He was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in the following October and underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

He said he had now been in remission for four years and had come to accept that the illness had cost him his playing career.

"I'm very religious. I believe in fate and I made peace with it," he said.

"That time has given me so much."

A coach Bader knew from Rochdale introduced him to Joe Thompson, the club's former midfielder who had twice returned to playing after treatment for the same cancer.

Bader said Thompson, who died in April 2025 after a third diagnosis, became like "a second older brother".

"He's the one that pushed me to stay in the game because he thought I had a lot to offer," he said.

The pair later helped organise charity matches, while Bader completed a sports management and business degree in Manchester, and the bond between them still continues through Thompson's widow Chantelle, who is a director and investor in the new club.

Bader said his degree combined with being a "massive FIFA head", playing the career mode in the hugely popular video game, drove him to wanting to move into a sporting director role.

That has now become his reality, as his role at Phoenix United puts him in charge of recruitment and building the squad, while also acting as a link between its coaches and business operations.

Amer, the club's chief executive, said the idea for Phoenix United "started from my brother's story".

He said life was "not just football" and the brothers wanted to give young players the opportunity to continue their education while training.

He said watching how his brother's life changed after diagnosis underlined how players were treated and they were seen "more of as an asset or as a liability, not as a person".

"We felt there is a need to focus on more than one opportunity.

"That's why we did the footballing education programme to make sure the young players realise that - in this world - there is more than football."

Bader said the club had two models; a student-athlete programme based on the US college sport model, with players training full-time while studying for a degree, or a football-only route.

He said some players paid to join the development programme, while others were scouted and paid by the club.

He said the business had franchise agreements with UK and US universities and its links with Radcliffe FC in Greater Manchester and Silves FC in Portugal may provide further training and playing opportunities.

The club has appointed former Northern Ireland international Jamie Ward as head coach and former Burnley defender Matt Lowton as his assistant.

But for Bader, building Phoenix United with his brother has brought together his family's football history and the career he lost to cancer.

"It's been a long journey of building... and to take this step now has been a massive achievement for us," he said.

"[It's] a real, real proud moment, because to get to what we've got to, especially doing it with your brother at this age, at this stage, is something that makes us immensely proud."

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