Ugo Ehiogu

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Ugo Ehiogu
Personal information
Full name Ugochuku Ehiogu
Date of birth November 3, 1972 (1972-11-03) (age 35)
Place of birth    London, England
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 3+12 in)
Playing position Centre Back
Club information
Current club Sheffield United
Number 33
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1989–1991
1991–2000
2000–2007
2006–2007
2007–2008
2008–
West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa
Middlesbrough
Leeds United (loan)
Rangers
Sheffield United
002 0(0)
237 (12)
126 0(7)
006 0(1)
009 0(1)
010 0(0)   
National team
1992–1993
1994
1996–2002
England U21
England B
England
015 0(1)
001 0(0)
004 0(1)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 18:53, 26 April 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Ugochuku "Ugo" Ehiogu (born November 3, 1972 in Homerton, London) is an English football player who currently plays for English side Sheffield United.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] West Brom and Aston Villa

Ehiogu (pronounced Eheeog) began his career at West Bromwich Albion as a trainee, turning professional in 1989. After just a few games for Albion in the Second Division, Ron Atkinson brought him to First Division Aston Villa for £40,000 in August 1991. By 1994, he had replaced Shaun Teale as the main central defensive partner to Paul McGrath.

He remained at the club for nine years, making over 300 appearances in all competitions. He was part of the Villa team that won the 1996 League Cup as Villa beat Leeds 3-0. Ehiogu also won a runners-up medal when Villa lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2000 FA Cup Final. He joined Middlesbrough from Villa in November 2000 for, at the time, a club record fee of £8 million. The deal went ahead after negotiations between Villa and West Bromwich Albion, whose 50% sell-on clause on the player had been seen as a stumbling block to the move.[1]

[edit] Middlesbrough

His career at Boro got off on the wrong foot when he was forced to limp off four minutes into his debut with a hamstring injury which kept him out for months. Whilst at Middlesbrough, Ugo quickly became a mainstay in the central defence since joining the club and rejoining his former team mate Gareth Southgate in central defence. He missed the start of the 2003-04 season with a knee injury but returned to play his part in Boro's Carling Cup success against Bolton Wanderers. This knee injury returned in the 2004-05 season and again he was forced to miss many important games, although Boro still managed to scrape into the UEFA Cup for a second successive season.

He agreed a move to West Bromwich Albion, the club where he had started as a 16 year-old, during the January transfer window of 2006,[2] but this move was cancelled when a number of Middlesbrough players became injured. On 23 November 2006 he moved to Leeds United on loan for 2 months until January. Ehiogu was a regular in Leeds' starting lineup during his loan move, usually alongside Matt Heath in central defence. He scored one goal and one own goal during his spell at Leeds which expired on 1 January 2007 after he admitted to manager, Dennis Wise that he could not play two matches in three days.

[edit] Rangers

Ehiogu was released from his contract at Middlesbrough and started talks with Rangers over a proposed transfer to the Scottish Premier League club. On 22 January, 2007, he signed an 18-month contract with Rangers after completing a medical. Once the technicalities of the transfer were concluded, Ehiogu officially joined Rangers three days later.[3] His first goal for Rangers came with a spectacular overhead kick in his first Old Firm game, giving Rangers a 1–0 win. On April 16, 2007 Ehiogu's goal against Celtic was voted Rangers' Goal of the Season at an award ceremony as voted for by the club's fans.[4]

Ehiogu found his first team opportunities limited at the start of the 2007-08 season, with Carlos Cuéllar and David Weir being preferred by manager Walter Smith. On 16 January 2008 it was repored that Sheffield United were interested in signing Ehiogu.[5] The next day he was released by Rangers and travelled down to Sheffield for talks with club manager Bryan Robson.[6] He completed the move on 18 January 2008.[7]

[edit] Sheffield United

Ehiogu made his first team debut for the Blades in a 1–1 home draw with Watford at the end of January.[8][9]

[edit] International career

He was called up for his first England international game in 1996 against Italy. He went on to win another three caps and scored once for his country, in a 3-0 victory over Spain.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Villa agree Ehiogu sell-on fee", BBC Sport, 2000-08-13. Retrieved on 2007-08-16. 
  2. ^ "Ehiogu poised for Baggies return", BBC Sport, 2006-01-09. Retrieved on 2007-08-16. 
  3. ^ "Ehiogu completes move to Rangers", BBC Sport website, 2007-01-25. 
  4. ^ "Hemdani Named Player Of The Year", Rangers official website, April 16, 2007. 
  5. ^ "Blades interested in Ehiogu move", BBC Sport website, 2008-01-16. 
  6. ^ "Ehiogu in Blades talks", Sky Sports website, 2008-01-17. 
  7. ^ "Ehiogu completes move to Blades", BBC Sport website, 2008-01-18. 
  8. ^ "Sheffield Utd vs Watford", Sheffield United F.C., 2008-01-29. Retrieved on 2008-02-04. 
  9. ^ "Blades 1-1 Watford", BBC Sport website, 2008-01-29. Retrieved on 2008-02-04. 

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Ehiogu, Ugo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ehiogu, Ugochuku
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Homerton, London, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH