Enoch Showunmi

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Enoch Showunmi
Enoch Showunmi
Personal information
Full name Enoch Olusesan Showunmi
Date of birth April 21, 1982 (1982-04-21) (age 26)
Place of birth    Kilburn, London, England
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Playing position Striker
Youth clubs
Willesden Constantine
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2003-2006
2006-2008
2008		 Luton Town
Bristol City
→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)		 102 (14)
050 (13)
010 0(0)   
National team2
2004- Nigeria 002 0(0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 14:21, 27 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 19:27, 22 December 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Enoch Olusesan Showunmi (born April 21, 1982, in Kilburn, London) is a Nigerian International footballer currently unattatched after being released by Bristol City.

Contents

[edit] Pre-Football

Showunmi entered the professional ranks relatively late, signing for his first professional club Luton Town at the age of 21 from non-League team Willesden Constantine, having first completed a Business degree at London South Bank University.

[edit] Clubs

[edit] Luton Town

A tall and bustling striker who also possesses pace, Showunmi joined Luton in early September 2003 following a successful trial spell with the Hatters that saw him feature regularly during the 2003-04 pre-season against such teams as AFC Wimbledon. At the time of his signature, Luton had a very small squad due to the administrative receivership that they were under, that prevented them signing new players. Regular midfielder and captain Kevin Nicholls received an injury that was to prevent him playing for 3 months, and Luton were able to use this injury to seek dispensation from the Football League to sign Showunmi.

Showunmi's debut came against Plymouth Argyle in September 2003, and his first goal arrived in an LDV Cup win against Rushden & Diamonds in November. After increasingly enthusiastic displays that indicated a player making the most of his opportunity, Showunmi's stock rose with the Luton fans who came to expect both moments of incredible skill and mistakes of a non-league player in a professional game. He improved with each game he played and late in the season scored a hat-trick in a home match against Brentford F.C.. In total he scored 7 goals in 28 appearances during the 2003-04 season, that culminated with his international debut for the Nigerian national team as a 71st minute substitute as Nigeria beat the Republic of Ireland national football team 3-0 on May 30 2004 at The Valley. He was a substitute in Nigeria's following 2-0 victory against the Jamaica national football team.

Luton's promotion season in 2004-05 saw Showunmi regularly used as a "super-sub" to score 6 goals in 38 matches, only 7 of which he started, including a late winner against Bournemouth after Luton had played most of the game with only 10 men.

In 2005-06 Showunmi often played in midfield with moderate success, due to injuries to many midfield players at the club.

On October 3 2006, the football agent Charles Collymore was charged with "touting" Enoch to Millwall, without the consent of Luton Town.

[edit] Bristol City

Before the 2006-07 season, Enoch moved to Bristol City on a Bosman transfer. He had a good start to the season scoring in 3 consecutive games making him an instant fans favourite. However he featured sporadically for the rest of the season due to injuries and good form from other City strikers. Despite not being a first team regular he finished the season as Bristol City's second top scorer behind Phil Jevons with 13 goals in all competitions.

Enoch faced strong competition for places at the start of the 2007-08 season, especially after fellow strikers Lee Trundle and Darren Byfield signed for the club with Steve Brooker also being in contention after returning to fitness. On 23 January 2008 Enoch started discussing personal terms with League 1 high-fliers Leeds United, after Leeds and Bristol City agreed terms for a permanent deal to take Enoch to Elland Road. But there was to be a final twist when Enoch snubbed a move to the Yorkshire side and stayed at Ashton Gate to fight for his place in the team.

However, on 31 January, he completed a move to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on an emergency loan until 1 March. This was later extended for another month, but at the start of April Showunmi decided to return to Ashton Gate in order to aid with the club's promotion push.

On 9 April, Showunmi was charged by the FA with "engaging the services of an individual, who was not a licensed agent or entitled to act in such a capacity, to represent him in contract negotiations with Luton Town in or around February 2004 and between November 2005 and January 2006", an allegation which incurred both Bristol City and Charles Collymore.

He was released by City at the end of the 2007-08 season along with fellow striker Darren Byfield

[edit] Trivia

  • He quickly became a fans favourite at Ashton Gate, even having a crowd chant dedicated to him: "What's that coming over the hill, is it Showunmi? Is it Showunmi?" to the tune of The Automatic's popular single Monster.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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