Peter Ijeh

Peter Ijeh

Personal information
Date of birth	(1977-03-28) 28 March 1977
Place of birth	Lagos, Nigeria
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Assyriska BK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998	Nitel FC	26	(17)
1999–2000	Julius Berger FC	27	(15)
2001–2003	Malmö FF	60	(38)
2004–2005	IFK Göteborg	36	(13)
2005–2006	Copenhagen	16	(4)
2006–2009	Viking FK	78	(39)
2010–2011	Syrianska FC	47	(22)
2012	GAIS	18	(2)
National team
2002	Nigeria	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 August 2012. † Appearances (Goals).

Peter Ijeh (born 28 March 1977) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a forward. He is currently the head coach of Assyriska BK.

Career

Early career

After playing for clubs in Nigeria, he joined Swedish club Malmö FF in 2001. He was the top scorer in Allsvenskan in 2002 with 24 goals. In 2003 he suffered a leg injury that kept him out of most of the season, but he still managed to come back strongly and finished with 10 goals. In late 2003, he transferred to IFK Göteborg as a bosman, as the club's big name signing for its 100th anniversary. He was, however, unable to repeat his earlier success while Malmö went on to win the league and Göteborg finishing third. After police investigation, it was also stated that the transfer from Malmö was an illegal one and club representatives of IFK Göteborg were sentenced to jail for tax evasion.^[1] The club itself, Ijeh and player Stefan Selaković were later cleared of all charges.^[2] After this he moved to Danish club FC København in 2005, where he failed to play regularly for the first team.

Viking

On 19 June 2006 he moved to Viking in Norway on a 3 million Danish krone deal. He became an instant success, scoring 11 goals in 15 games to save the team from relegation. In the last game of the 2006 season Ijeh scored 4 goals and pressured an opposition defender to concede an own goal as Viking surprisingly demolished local rivals and second-placed S.K. Brann 5–0 to climb two places in the table and thus escape relegation on goal difference.

In Early January 2007, several sources within Norwegian football claim that Ijeh will soon be looking for another club, with English Championship side Coventry City courting the Nigerian striker, who is thought to be keen to test his skills in the more physical English game. Coventry City manager Micky Adams is thought to have watched the player on a recent scouting trip to Norway.

Norwegian club F.C. Lyn Oslo have reportedly made a NOK 12 million bid for Ijeh's services, though this was rejected from Viking. Though Viking several times stated Ijeh was not for sale, they now have had a change of heart, stating their unwillingness to keep a player who is not devoted to playing for the club. Ijeh himself has said he wants to move to a club in a more southern league, stating that under no circumstances could he play for another Norwegian club than Viking. Ijeh left Viking at the end of the 2009 season to sign for Syrianska FC in the Swedish second division.

Syrianska FC

On 23 October Ijeh scored two goals in the game that took Syrianska to Allsvenskan for the first time ever. He finished the season with 17 goals. He will now again play against his two former clubs Malmö FF and IFK Göteborg. Ijeh also scored Syrianska FC's first Allsvenskan goal, after a mistake by the Gefle IF defence allowed him to roll the ball into an empty net.

GAIS

After two seasons in Syrianska, Ijeh left the club for Allsvenskan rivals GAIS where he took over the number nine shirt.

Assyriska BK

Ijeh took over Assyriska BK in November 2013 as a head coach.

Career statistics

Personal life

He is a member of the Norwegian Christian sports organization Kristen Idrettskontakt (KRIK).^[3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peter Ijeh.

• (Norwegian) Viking F.K. profile
• Peter Ijeh at National-Football-Teams.com
• (Swedish) Profile at Syrianskafc.com