Ethiopia Bunna’s most famous head coach Seyoum Abate has been admitted to Black Lion Hospital following a critical case last Monday. “After three days in the Emergency Room, he has been transferred to the 8th floor ward and is doing better,” his younger brother Solomon Abate said.
One of the most talented players among his contemporaries Seyoum played attacking midfielder both for his club Saint George and the Ethiopian national team in the late fifties and early sixties. Seyoum made a name as a coach for Ethiopia Bunna since their promotion to the upper tier in 1984, helping the side to emerge as one of the major soccer forces in the country. Seyoum enjoyed his coaching profession as he raised many young talented players like Mengestu Bogale, Mulugeta Woldeyes, Million Begashaw, Asrat Adugna and the late all time Ethiopia Bunna most popular player Asseged Tesfaye.
Though he couldn’t fill the silverware cabinet with trophies, he was renowned for his modern coaching philosophies from which he built amazing “Ball Playing Teams” making Ethiopia Bunna the second most popular side in Ethiopia next to Saint George. Coming and going in to Ethiopia Bunna not less than five times he also served as a head coach to the Ethiopian national team at all levels.
More than half a century in football and nick named among his admirers “The Big Bear” Seyoum has been struggling with a serious health problem for the last few years.