Emmanuel Ekpo

Emmanuel Ekpo (born 20 December 1987 in Ekori) is a Nigerian professional footballer.

Emmanuel Ekpo
Personal information
Full name Emmanuel Ekpo
Date of birth (1987-12-20) 20 December 1987
Place of birth Ekori, Nigeria
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Attacking Midfielder, Winger
Team information
Current team
 Eastern Suburbs AFC
Number 29
Youth career
2005–2006 Calabar Rovers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Akwa United
2007–2008 Enyimba International
2008–2011 Columbus Crew 108 (5)
2012–2014 Molde 40 (0)
2014 Haugesund 1 (0)
2016–2017 Eastern Suburbs AFC 4 (0)
International career
2008 Nigeria Olympic 6 (0)
2011 Nigeria 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Professional

Ekpo spent his early years in the youth system of Calabar Rovers, before going on to play professionally for Akwa United and Enyimba in the Nigerian Premier League.

Ekpo signed a contract with Columbus Crew on 15 April 2008,[1] and scored an impressive first goal for the Crew on 28 June 2008, in a game against Colorado Rapids.[2] He went on to be an invaluable part of the Crew team which won the 2008 MLS Cup, the 2008 MLS Supporters Shield, and the 2009 Supporters shield repeat, featuring in over 80 games in all competitions in his first three seasons with the club.

In December 2011 Ekpo became a free agent when he did not re-sign with the Crew.[3] In February 2012 he signed with Molde of Norway, managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, on a three-year contract through 2014.[4]

After two and a half seasons with Molde, Ekpo moved to Haugesund in July 2014,[5] leaving Haugesund after the 2014 season when his contract expired.[6]

In October 2016, Ekpo joined Eastern Suburbs AFC in New Zealand.[7][8]

International

Ekpo participated in African Games qualifying in 2007, took part in CAF Olympic qualifying in 2008, and won a silver medal for participating in the Nigerian national team's games during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He was a second-half substitute in all six of Nigeria's games.

On 6 September 2011, Ekpo received his first cap with the senior team. He played 20 minutes in a 3–1 loss to Argentina in a friendly.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 13 November 2016[9]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Columbus Crew 2008 Major League Soccer 202--202
2009 30260-362
2010 2603061-351
2011 3210020-341
Total 108530141--1256
Molde 2012 Tippeligaen 1301020-160
2013 2504140-331
2014 202000-40
Total 4007160--531
Haugesund 2014 Tippeligaen 100020–310
Eastern Suburbs 2016–17 New Zealand Football Championship 40–––40
Career total 1535101221--1857

Honors
Columbus Crew
Molde

References
  1. "Ekpo deal done (Covering the Crew)". Archived from the original on 23 June 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  2. "Major League Soccer: News: Article". Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  3. "Mendoza heads the list of roster casualties in Columbus". MLS. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 27 August 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  4. http://www.moldefk.no/index.php?page_id=22292
  5. "Molde slipper midtbanespiller til konkurrent". aftenposten.no (in Norwegian). aftenposten. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  6. "Sema og Anyora bort" [Sema and Anyora leaves]. TV Haugaland. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  7. "Olympic silver medalist relishes recent Eastern Suburbs signing". Fairfax New Zealand Limited. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  8. "Emmanuel Ekpo". facebook.com. Eastern Suburbs Facebook. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  9. "E.Ekpo". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
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