“We tell the amazing story of Adrian Geet.”, — write: football.ua
We tell the amazing story of Adrian Geet.
Football took him to Stoke City and later to Everton, where in 1982 he became the club’s most expensive signing. His goal in the 1984 League Cup against Oxford United arguably established Geet as one of the key figures in the club’s history.
In 1988, he became one of the first Englishmen who dared to move to La Liga, signing a contract with Espanyol. And when his playing career came to an end, football changed his route again — this time it led him to the United States. There were coaching years at Austin Aztecs, Orlando City and Minnesota United. Geet traveled halfway around the world in search of players for these clubs. He trained the winner of the Ballon d’Or, the Brazilian legend Kaka.
The trip to Morocco was to be another adventure. An interview for a coaching position in Saudi Arabia. The opportunity to work on a new continent, to see another world. Another chapter that football had to write in his life.
On another evening, this sight might have seemed beautiful: dusk slowly fading into darkness, the city lights left behind. But this time Geet wasn’t thinking about the scenery. He remembered what the game had given him. I thought about my four grandchildren and about the stories I would tell them one day.
And then he turned his head and looked at the man behind the wheel of the four-door sedan—his captor. And for the first time, he thought about whether football would become something that would eventually end his life.
So when Jane Geet got word that Adrian had landed in Tangier, but never got around to the usual FaceTime from the hotel, something inside clicked.
“Are you okay?” she wrote.
“Yes, everything is fine, he answered. — Just busy.”
But the feeling of anxiety did not go away. The messages looked strange. Not as usual. Both of them always wrote competently, were attentive to words. And FaceTime never happened.
Jane called.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked.
He answered the same.
“Yes, everything is fine“.
But there was something wrong in the voice. She heard it.
“See you in the morning” Adrian said.
They said goodbye and hung up.
Within a minute, one of the men in the room had a blade to Geet’s throat.
“Listen carefully he said. — You have a few hours to think it over.”
It was a story Geet didn’t plan to share.
He kept his abduction a secret for more than a year, telling only a small circle of friends and informing the Football Managers’ Association (LMA), the coaching union in English football. And then he got a call from the FBI agent who was handling the case. The same thing happened to another coach.
“When we got a call from the FBI and they said it happened again, I just broke down— recalls Jane Geet. – You you think that everything is over, but it is not. And the thought of another family that has to go through this…”
Geet had heard of at least two similar incidents before him. And now – one more after. The couple decided: silence only opens the door for new victims and the same threats from which he himself managed to escape.
In an interview with The Athletic in December 2025, they spoke in detail about those three days in November 2024 for the first time. On one condition: no names, no specific locations and no details that could harm the investigation, which is still ongoing in the United States and England.
In an emailed response to the inquiry, the FBI said it is their policy not to confirm or deny the existence of any investigations. Instead, a representative of the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) released a statement:
“We can confirm that NCA officers are investigating allegations relating to a fake football consortium which offered jobs to professional footballers. This led to threats of violence and money transfers, despite no actual contracts or employment having taken place. As the investigation is ongoing, we are unable to provide any further information.”
Even now, when the Geetas are talking about these details again, it all seems unreal.
“It’s like a movie or series of Motherland,” Adrian says.
Every time, going back in his thoughts, he goes the same way: scrolling through the first conversations in his head, trying to understand if there was a sign that he missed.
After being fired from Minnesota United in October 2023, Geet, 65, spent a year traveling with Jane, visiting children Harrison and Meg and four grandchildren. After fifteen continuous years of coaching in Austin, Orlando and Minnesota, the break was quite logical.
But in the summer of 2024, an agent from Great Britain called and asked if Adrian would consider working in Saudi Arabia. Geet answered without hesitation.
“Of course, provided that everything can be agreed upon”he told the agent.
When it came to the club and financial conditions, the offer attracted even more interest. Geet wanted to return to coaching. The desire to be on the edge again has not disappeared.
Another coach eventually took over, but Adrian continued to oversee the club. Things were not going well there. A few months later, the same agent called again.
“Adrian, this job is coming up again. You were very close last time. Want to get back to talking?” he said.
Geet agreed. Over the next few days, they discussed details: salary, budget for headquarters, living conditions in Saudi Arabia, even health insurance. The conversations were on speakerphone, so Jane could hear every single one of them. Nothing seemed suspicious.
Adrian called several acquaintances who worked in Saudi Arabia. Among them is Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. Everyone spoke positively about the club and the work in the Saudi leagues. Soon the agent said: the owner of the club wants to meet in person. He asked if Git could fly to Morocco, where the “sheikh” had several hotels and other businesses.
“If we agree on everything by Tuesday, we will immediately fly to Saudi Arabia for the official announcement.” said the agent.
The plane ticket was sent for Sunday, November 17. They also booked a room in a five-star hotel on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
“There was nothing unusual in this whole process— recalls Jane. — The same thing happened when he moved from England to America or from Orlando to Minnesota. No red flags. Hours of conversation, and there wasn’t a single question the agent hesitated to answer.”
Adrian flew to Tangier via Manchester. When he landed in Morocco on the evening of November 18, two men were waiting for him at the airport hiccups They handed him flowers, led him to a black four-door sedan and set off in the direction of the hotel.
In about forty minutes, the car left the main road.
“At first I thought it was just the shortest way– says Git. — We were supposed to go to meet the sheikh. “He just wants to see you and say hello.” OK, no problem. But after twenty minutes, I felt a little embarrassed: the road was narrowing, it was getting dark. We drove into a small port town, and then into a suspicious area. I was supposed to stay at a hotel on the coast.”
The car turned into an alley and stopped. The men came out, opened the door and gestured for Geet to come out. He was taken to a small apartment building, and from there to an almost empty, smoky room.
A sectional sofa stood along three walls. In the middle is a table with brass decorations. There was a TV set on the far wall. The windows were tightly hung with heavy, whimsical curtains. Music was playing somewhere in the background.
There were three men in the room: one was fifty-five years old, the other was a little over thirty. The third, who appeared to be a teenager or a boy in his early twenties, closely resembled the middle-aged younger brother.
“They hardly spoke to me for the first hour– recalls Geet. — They drank, discussed something among themselves and asked again and again: “Do you want a drink?” I refused, because even then I understood: I shouldn’t drink anything.”
Afterwards, they sat him down on the sofa.
“You obviously already realized that this is not what you expected, said a man in his thirties. — Then everything will be like this: you will send us money.”
The amount, according to Git, was much more than one hundred thousand, but he did not give a specific figure.
“And if not, you won’t see your wife again. You won’t see your children and grandchildren.”
It was obvious: these people had prepared well. They knew everything – about him, about his family. Geet’s wallet and phone were taken. Inside, everything was closed. Since then, he thought about only one thing – how to get out of this situation alive and unharmed.
First of all, it was necessary to buy time. He grasped the time difference – seven hours. Even if he wanted to transfer the money, it was impossible now, insisted Geet. It is already late at night in Morocco, and the work day has long ended in the United States.
“I was just looking for a way to pass the time, he explains. — I wanted to understand how tightly they hold me.”
When Jane called, one of the men held the phone in front of Adrian’s face, on speakerphone. Almost immediately a blade appeared – thin, forty centimeters long.
All night Geet sat on the sofa with his eyes closed while people drank and smoked around him. He pretended to be asleep, but in reality he was trying to come to terms with what might await him in the coming days.
These seven hours of the night, he said, were the most difficult.
“Because I had time to think, he says. — And there was only one thought: maybe this is the end. I’m not sure I’ll get home from here.”
While the men in the room went about their business, Geet thought about what he wanted to get back to.
“I began to remember all the good things in my life, – he says — Wife Children Grandchildren”.
He thought about his grandchildren, Hayden and Hendricks, who were in New Jersey with Harrison and his wife, Apple TV MLS analyst and former Canadian player Kailyn Kyle; and about grandson Geet and granddaughter Wilder, who lived in England with Meg and her husband, Reading striker Will Keane.
He wondered if he would ever see them all together again.
In the complete darkness of the room, Geet remembered hearing the call to prayer at dawn. And then something happened that he did not expect. The wife and little son of the man, who was a little over thirty, entered the room. They paid no attention to him. The boy – who looked to be about four years old – was watching a cartoon on TV. Later, the woman went out to get groceries. Later, she put a backpack on her son and took him to school. Geet remembers how the boy turned and looked at him. Their eyes met.
By that time, Geet already understood: he had no good options. If you give the money, they will ask for more, he was sure. But if you refuse, the blade may appear again. Despite this, he was determined not to pay.
As the sun rose over Minneapolis, the kidnappers pulled out a phone and ordered Geet to call his wife.
Jane was still in bed when the bell rang. It was 6:30 in the morning, but she was still awake thinking about Adrian. She hardly remembers how she heard his words that she needed to go to the bank and transfer the money.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I need you to transfer the money, he answered. — Listen to me carefully. I need you to transfer the money.”
And then Jane made a snap decision.
“Adrian, we switched bank accounts less than a year ago,” she said. “You’re the main account holder. I can’t transfer any funds without you.”
After a short argument, the kidnappers cut off the call. They called again in a minute. Adrian said a smaller amount this time, but it was still the same “calculated in six figures”. Jane, already in tears, stuck to her version: she can’t tell anything.
“Listen, honey, don’t worry, Adrian replied. — I’ll call a little later.
He hung up. Jane immediately called Harrison — a former MLS midfielder — and told him what was going on.
Harrison called his father. There was no answer. He dialed again.
Adrian insisted to the kidnappers that he had to answer.
“Dad, what’s going on? Harrison asked. — Just leave the room and tell me what’s going on.”
“Harrison, damn it, listen to mesaid Adrian. — I can’t.”
And again the kidnappers interrupted the call.
Back in the US, where Jane and Harrison were understandably stunned by what was happening, it was Kailyn who took control of the situation. She suggested that her mother-in-law check out the Find My Friends app.
Unbelievably, the kidnappers took Git’s phone and did not turn off geolocation.
Jane took a screenshot and sent it to Harrison. He immediately called the agent who organized the first meeting. In what they would later call a “tough” conversation, Harrison demanded an explanation. He sent the agent a screenshot of where his father was.
Coincidentally, the father of one of the boys on the youth football team Harrison coached in New Jersey worked in the New York office of the FBI. Harrison called him too.
In Morocco, meanwhile, Geet went to negotiate with the kidnappers.
“I don’t know how it will end, – he told them. — But the bottom line is simple: you won’t get any money. The only chance is to let me go home, and from there I can make the transfer. You will have to believe me, but there is no other option.”
During the dispute, the kidnappers took out a knife again. Little did Geet know that his family had already shared the screenshot with geolocation. But in a few minutes everything suddenly changed.
“Like someone flipped a switch”he recalls.
A man years older than t Ridtsiat entered the room.
“Take your thingshe said, pointing to the bag Geet had flown in with. — I’m taking you to the airport.”
He ordered to sit in the passenger seat of the sedan. As the sun started to set, they hit the track. The phone was in Adrian’s hands again. He wrote three words to Jane.
“I’m in the car.”
When the city lights disappeared, a stretch of about forty minutes began where darkness seemed to completely engulf the car. From time to time gas stations, shops or restaurants floated by.
Geet tried to think of any topic to talk about, something that could keep him alive.
“Morocco played great at the World Cup”– he threw at some point.
As they got closer to the airport, Geet began to believe that he might be able to get out of this story alive after all. Near the entrance to Tangier airport, the car slowed to almost a crawling speed. The man ordered Adrian to open the door, grabbed him and pushed him out of the car.
“I didn’t even have time to pick up my bag and the car was already off the ground.” Geet recalls.
His passport, bag and wallet remained with him – without the six hundred dollars in cash that he had at the beginning of the trip. Considering everything that happened, he considers it a miracle that it was the only loss.
He ran to the airport and rushed to the first ticket counter.
“When is your next flight to Europe?” he asked.
“Thirty minutes flight to Madrid”, – they answered him.
“If I buy a ticket right now, will I make it?”
“Yes”.
Geet did not ask about the price. He bought his ticket and raced through security, constantly looking over his shoulder, not knowing where he could feel safe now. Already from the gate, he called Jane on FaceTime.
“To say he looked terrible is an understatement.” she recalls.
At that moment, the sky seemed to tear apart. It started to rain. Geet looked up and prayed that the plane would take off after all. Eventually the weather cleared up and the flight departed.
In total, he spent about 24 hours in that Moroccan apartment. It was Tuesday evening. Geet already landed in the Twin Cities on Wednesday. Jane and FBI agents were waiting for him. The officers allowed Adrian and Jane to see each other briefly before separating them for separate questioning.
“I literally fell into his arms,” Jane recalls.
The FBI provided security for the Geet family for the next 28 days. For the first 48 hours, they did not leave the house at all – not even for their usual daily walk. Most of the following weeks were spent behind closed doors.
“It sounds strange, but I will say the word “luck”– says Adrian. — How lucky we are. Because all we were told at the FBI was: “It’s incredibly lucky that you’re back.”
Geet immediately informed the Football Managers Association so that similar incidents can be prevented in the future. According to him, the LMA has developed a new protocol: all proposals or interviews can now be verified through the association, which verifies their legitimacy directly through the relevant federation.
LMA CEO Richard Beaven confirmed in a brief emailed response that the organization was aware of the NCA’s investigation, but refrained from further comment as the case was still ongoing.
Geet also said that, according to his information, another former MLS coach could be involved in a similar scheme, but he did not name names. He hopes that this story will push American trainers to create their own association like the LMA, which could become their protection. It was for this reason – to warn others – that he decided to tell about the events in Morocco.
Geet realizes how close he was to the worst.
“Sometimes it seems unreal, he says. — It was at the same time the longest and shortest three days of my life. Such moments make you rethink everything and understand what is really important. And only family is important. Everything else is secondary.”
He and Jane now take nothing for granted: time with their children and grandchildren, small household items, ordinary days together at home.
But there is another dimension. When Adrián remembers that last trip through Moroccan roads, he realizes how important football remains to him. He wants to return to work – if only so that the game can once again bring something bright into his life, as it has been for many years.
“I appreciated in a new way how good our life is and how well it turned out for me, he says. — I worked a lot, but I lived a really good life. And almost a year ago, I sat in that room and thought: “This is the end, and I still have so many plans.” So I still want to train. I still want to go back. I still have that desire.”
The Athletic