Efan Ekoku

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Efan Ekoku
Personal information
Full name Efangwu Goziem Ekoku
Date of birth (1967-06-08) 8 June 1967 (age 56)
Place of birth
Cheetham Hill
, Manchester, England
Position(s)
Striker
Youth career
1989–1990 Sutton United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1990 Sutton United 57 (12)
1990–1993 AFC Bournemouth 62 (21)
1993–1994 Norwich City 38 (16)
1994–1999 Wimbledon 123 (37)
1999–2001 Grasshoppers 28 (19)
2000–2001Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 32 (7)
2001–2003 Sheffield Wednesday 27 (7)
2003 Brentford 0 (0)
2004 Dublin City 13 (0)
Total 335 (119)
International career
1994–1995 Nigeria 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Efangwu Goziem Ekoku (born 8 June 1967) is a Nigerian former professional footballer, and sports commentator.

As a player, he was a

World Cup 94
.

Playing career

Ekoku began his career at

Football League was unspectacular, as he managed just 20 games and three goals during the 1990–91 season for a Cherries side who finished mid table. He did better in 1991–92, scoring 11 goals in 28 league games. He managed seven goals from 14 games in 1992–93 before a £500,000 move to Norwich City on 26 March 1993 took him to the Premier League.[citation needed
]

He arrived at Carrow Road when Norwich were in the thick of the title race under the management of Mike Walker. Ekoku scored three goals in ten games in what was left of that campaign, and although Norwich were beaten to the title by Manchester United, Ekoku and his teammates had achieved a third-place finish and qualified for the UEFA Cup.[citation needed]

He scored Norwich's first ever goal in European competition, against

Bayern Munich in the next round. Just ten days later he scored four goals as Norwich beat Everton 5–1 at Goodison Park, becoming the first player to score more than three goals in a Premier League game. He managed a total of 27 league games that season, scoring 12 goals in the league (and 14 times in all competitions), although a slump in league form after manager Mike Walker departed to Everton in January saw the Canaries finish 12th in the league that season.[citation needed
]

He remained at Carrow Road until 14 October 1994, when a £1 million fee took him to Wimbledon to replace long-serving John Fashanu as strike partner to Dean Holdsworth. Ekoku had played six times for the Canaries in 1994–95, but didn't score a goal and was faced with competition for a regular place in the Carrow Road attack from new signing Mike Sheron.[1]

He was the club's top scorer in the league that season with nine goals as they finished ninth in the league.[citation needed]

He managed seven goals in the 1995–96 season and had a particularly exciting campaign in 1996–97, when Wimbledon finished eighth and were semi-finalists in both of the domestic cups. He was also their top scorer with 11 league goals.[citation needed]

However, his first team chances were restricted over the next two seasons, and after nearly a year on the transfer list - and a number of clubs expressing interest in signing him - he moved to Switzerland in a £500,000 move to Grasshoppers on 27 August 1999. He had first requested to leave the club a year earlier, when he had declared his interest in joining a bigger Premier League club, and was subject of interest from the likes of Everton, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest and Southampton, with fees as high as £4 million being quoted.[2]

His first season in Switzerland was very successful, as he scored 16 goals in 21 games, although he failed to pick up any silverware. He played a further seven games and scored three goals before returning to England on a free transfer to Sheffield Wednesday on 20 October 2000.[citation needed]

He arrived at

2002–03 campaign, where the Owls were relegated to Division Two. Having been out of the first team picture for a whole year, he was given a free transfer and signed for Division Two strugglers Brentford in March 2003,[3] but failed to win a call into the squad before his release at the end of the season.[2] He finished his career in Ireland with Dublin City before finally retiring in 2004.[4]

In 2012, Ekoku was inducted into the

Media career

Ekoku works as a commentator for

BT Sport for their coverage of Champions League, Europa League, Ligue 1, and the Bundesliga. He also worked for ESPN during the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, commentating alongside Derek Rae
.

Coaching career

Ekoku has obtained all of his FA and UEFA coaching badges.[7]

Personal life

Ekoku is a regular at AFC Wimbledon, which is the phoenix club of the original Wimbledon for which he played.[8]

Honours

Nigeria
1994
Individual
Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame 2012 Inductee[9]

References

  1. ^ "Flown from the Nest - Efan Ekoku".
  2. ^ a b "Flown From the Nest – Efan Ekoku". www.ex-canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | EKOKU SIGNS". world.brentfordfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  4. ^ [1]"Efan Ekoku" "Sportingheroes.net" 20 September 1997
  5. ^ "Norwich City | Club | History | History | NEW HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES". world.canaries.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Efan Ekoku Match Analyst 2010 FIFA World Cup" ESPNews 3 May 2010, retrieved 28 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Efan Ekoku". Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2010. "Efan Ekoku Match Analyst 2010 FIFA World Cup" ESPNews 3 May 2010.
  8. ^ "An Evening with Efan Ekoku". YouTube. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. "An Evening with Efan Ekoku"
  9. ^ "Norwich City | Club | History | History | NEW HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES". canaries.co.uk. 21 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.

External links