The Day Job – Adam Aigbokhae – Caldy’s All Action Bogeyman

 As Strategy Director for fast growing multinational digital media business, Six & Flow, Adam Aigbokhae’s career path appears to be firmly on track but there is little doubt that his rugby talent is such that he could have taken a different path. His freakish athletic ability and strength could surely have propelled into a full-time career at the highest level in professional rugby union.

However, ‘Bogey’ was never likely to have chosen that path. “To reach the very top in rugby union requires an obsessive commitment that pretty much excludes everything else in your life. That was never attractive to me, I like a more balanced life.”

18 year old Adam winning the Sports Award at Portadown College 2007
Image – Northern Ireland World

Growing up in Craigavon in Northern Ireland, rugby at Portadown RFC was Adam’s chosen sport because in his words “I was too clumsy to play football.” Such self-deprecating comments are typical of this humble but hugely talented player who in a long ago conversation with one of Caldy’s 2^nd xv coaches at the time, provided the startling news that he couldn’t play for the next couple of months because he had been selected as part of the Ireland Rugby League squad for the 2010 Rugby League European Cup ! At the time Bogey was not even considered as a fixture in Caldy’s 1^st xv, but he was good enough to be in the Ireland Rugby League squad for the European Cup. Extraordinary !

Arriving in Liverpool as a student at John Moores University, Adam’s first English club was Waterloo where he was predominantly a back row player, but his pace and prodigious strength has subsequently seen him also play wing, centre and for the past few seasons’ loosehead prop. There can be very few players who have ever so successfully played these vastly different positions at National League level and above.

Adam credits Gary and Liam Devaney as being pivotal in providing him with the initial platform for both his subsequent business career and the ability to put down firm roots in the North West of England. After leaving John Moores University, with what Adam described as a good but somewhat irrelevant sports science degree he was offered his first full-time job in marketing with Gary’s MD Insurance business.

After a few seasons at Caldy, a new work opportunity took Adam to the capital where he played for the legendary London Nigerian RFC before returning to the Northwest, combining a new Manchester based job in digital marketing alongside turning out for Sale FC.

Adam enjoyed three highly successful years with the ‘Dogs’ (who Adam graciously described as very nice people) but a return to Paton Field was inevitable. The opportunity and sense of community which Gary and Liam, MD Insurance and Caldy RFC had provided to him early in his career was a powerful and irresistible draw card.

Since Adam’s return to Caldy he has been a fundamental part of a remarkable story as this small village rugby club rose from an already elevated position in National 2 North to achieve successive promotions to the Championship. Along the way this phenomenal athlete, who was once considered to be way too small to play prop, has terrorized some of the best sides in England, picking up numerous personal accolades amongst which were his inclusion in The Rugby Papers’ 2020 National 2 North Team of the Year and 2022 National 1 Team of the Year.

Adam Aigbokhae against Sale Sharks
Image – Kieran Free

Now thirty-six and living in Manchester with his wife Jess and his daughter Oriana, Adam has a challenging and responsible role as Strategy Director at Six & Flow.

Many of us over the age of 40 may struggle to fully understand what Adam actually does in his day job, so perhaps the best thing to do is to just drop in this link to the Six & Flow website and let the interweb do it’s magic !

Six & Flow | Strategic Go-To-Market Agency

Although playing as well as ever Bogey acknowledged that he is probably coming to the latter part of his rugby career and he has made it clear “I won’t be playing until I am as old as Nick Royle !”

A lot of opposition teams will be very relieved to hear that !

When Roger Flashman provides an update to his excellent and comprehensive history of Caldy RFC (1924 to circa 2012) Adam Aigbokhae is sure to feature as strongly as his extraordinary physical prowess.

Adam Aigbokhae packs down against Sale Sharks
Image – Kieran Free