Chemistry, Crusaders and coaching - travelling the world to fulfil a footballing ambition

There is a pub quiz coming up soon.

If, by any chance, it features a specialist round on the provenance of American candy bars, such as Chupa Chups lollipops, chewy Airheads, or, indeed, minty Mentos, I know the right person to include on my team.

Benjamin Haim is acquainted with their flavours, colours and chemical makeup.

The science graduate of Copenhagen's Professionshøjskolen Metropol University has worked in the industry with major manufacturer Perfetti van Melle, as well as companies Procter & Gamble and Nitto Denko Avicia.

If that subject doesn't make it on to the quiz there will likely be the football round, and Haim knows a thing or two about that subject, too.

The 36-year-old, who gave up a career in the laboratory for one on the training pitch, remains ever grateful to Crusaders for opening the door into coaching, the Shore Road club supporting him as he completed his UEFA B licence in Northern Ireland.

"Football has always been a part of me since I was eight years old," explains Haim via video call from the Belfast home he shares with his partner, actress Sanja Novič.

"However, being away from the game after finishing my chemistry and biology degree was always a weird thing.

"I went into chemistry thinking I could change the world, accomplish something. But once you get inside there you learn there is a different agenda that is driven by money. That was against my ethics.

"I left it to pursue football, something, whether or not it made me money, that made me happy."

Copenhagen-born Haim came through the youth academy with second division side Boldklubben af 1893, known locally as B.93.

Describing himself as "a not very big or strong inside forward" who relied on "speed, quick feet and a good shot", allied with the ability to be in the right spot at the right time, Haim was unable to move beyond the Østerbro Stadion and into the top tier of Danish football.

He looked elsewhere. "I chose to go to Israel — my dad is from there. I wanted to go to my other home nation. I was tired of the weather and wanted some nice sunshine."

After "a wasted six months" trying to persuade clubs there to give him a chance, Haim made the move across the Atlantic to Kentucky.

It was an area he knew from his internship days at Northern Kentucky University's organic chemistry department.

Sanja was there and so too were the Cincinnati Saints football team, where Haim would continue to play, in the fourth level of American soccer.

"Sanja was born in the city of Derventa near the Bosnia-Croatia border," he says

"Because of the war in the Balkans, her family were granted asylum by the United States in 2001,".

However, the couple continued the feel the pull of Europe and, three years ago, they headed for Belfast, where she wanted to follow her acting ambitions by becoming involved in HBO's Game of Thrones, which was being filmed in the city's Titanic Quarter. Haim saw this move as his opportunity to acquire a coaching licence.

Kentucky to King's Landing was a major leap. While Sanja was getting to grips with life in Westeros and the feuding between the Starks and the Lannisters, Haim was finding his feet in north Belfast.

"The first few months was about getting used to the dialect here," he recalls. "Sanja and I only picked up about 50% of what people were saying."

And, in a city where politics and sporting affiliations are as complex and tribal as in other conflicted societies, Haim had to carefully sidestep certain minefields.

"There was the whole religious aspect. I had no idea about Catholics and Protestants or the history of the Troubles. To me it didn't and doesn't matter what you are, but clearly it was important to the people that lived here.

"I remember talking to some football people who were saying 'Rangers lost today'. I had no idea whether that was good or bad," he muses.

The connection with Crusaders began when Haim offered his services as a volunteer at the 2017 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship in Northern Ireland.

"It didn't hurt to go out to do something without being paid. I ended up being given charge of a fan zone. I got speaking to Michael Carville from Crusaders and when I told him I was looking for a coaching job and help with a license, he linked me up with the women's academy at Seaview.

"That got me on to the path of meeting some great new people and eventually completing my UEFA qualification at the Irish Football Association in 2018. It was intense, with lots of exercise and drills. I was glad to get it done."

And with that new passport in his back pocket, Ben has sketched out a route to a full-time coaching job.

"The chances are greater in Europe because the market is so much bigger. But then there are so many more people wanting to do the same thing. You need to have an agent who will promote you, or be scouted by someone, who will vouch for you."

"I figured if I was coaching in the USA, there would be better opportunities. They like Europeans coming over and coaching the game properly. That way I could build up my experience, get to know myself better as a coach, achieve some good results and at some point bring that back to Europe."

Time, as well as the machinations of the football world, has taught Haim patience. Last year, the chance to coach in the United States came after contact with a former Cincinnati Saints team mate, Joe Talley, was re-established.

Talley, of Irish descent, and now an assistant coach with the Puerto Rico women's international team, mentioned that a newly formed club for underage players in the Queen City was expanding and planning ahead for a director of football.

Haim's association with Mercury Soccer, which has hugely subscribed teams, for boys and girls from under five to under 16, was sealed in a couple of trans-Atlantic interviews in March last year. Taking up the position, however, was delayed by a previous commitment.

"I was pledged to coaching the Danish futsal team at the Maccabiah Games, the Jewish equivalent of the Olympic Games, which were being staged in Budapest. Once that was done, I was on my way back to America in September last year."

The global pandemic that has now beset so many lives has left Haim — who was on vacation in Belfast — stranded until the lockdown is eased. He continues to coach his under-12 squad from a distance, staging Thursday night technical sessions on Zoom.

"Football is my passion and I want to pass it on and keep things going as best we can back in Cincinnati," he explains, having just learned that his joint association with the youth academy of MLS side Cincinnati FC has been put on hold as part of a league-wide cost-cutting exercise.

"I take it one day at a time. My ultimate goal is to be hired by a professional club and to make a living out of it. I believe in myself and I know that with the tactics and systems I have implemented with youth football, I can go on and achieve a higher level — wherever that might be. Here, in Europe, or wherever. I don't mind."

If he was thinking of the Irish League, Haim has already made many trusted friends.

"Ben was a terrific asset for us during his time here," recalls Danielle McDowell, head of the Girls Development Academy at Crusaders.

"Nothing was too much trouble for him when he was working with the teams under Erin Montgomery, Heather Mearns and Megan Beattie. He will always be welcome at Seaview."