Bassey Abobo Akpan (born 6 January 1984 in Eket, Akwa Ibom State) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for NPFL club,

Kano Pillars Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football (soccer), football club based in Kano (city), Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They pl ...

Club career

Born in Eket, Nigeria, Akpan began his career with

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), also known as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as Task Force Green, is a Special operation forces, special operat ...

Academy of Asaba. He was part of the team that placed third at the 1998 Nike Premier Cup in Paris, France. He later joined Bright Stars Football Academy In 1999. During the 1999 Nike Premier Cup Africa playoffs in lagos, Akpan put up an impressive performance for the Port-Harcourt-based Academy and was voted the best goalkeeper of the under-15 tournament. Akpan signed his first professional contract with southern Nigerian club, Bayelsa United in 2001, where he spent the entire 2001–02 season. He switched to

Sunshine Stars Sunshine Stars Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Akure. They play in the top division in Nigerian football, the Nigerian Premier League. Their home stadium is the 5,000-capacity Akure Township Stadium. Sunshine Stars FC drew an a ...

, where he played for the rest of 2002–03 season, before teaming up with

Kwara United Kwara United Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Ilorin. They play in the top division in Nigerian football, the Nigeria Professional football League having gained promotion in 2017 from the Nigeria National League. Their home s ...

for the 2003–04 season, following the relegation of the Akure-based club to second tier. He extended his contract with the ''Afonja Warriors'' for two seasons, before joining Bayelsa United for a second spell at the start of the 2006–07 season. After two seasons with Bayelsa United, Akpan secured a loan move to Heartland FC during the 2008–09 season where he helped the ''Naze Millionaires'' reach the final of the

2009 CAF Champions League The 2009 CAF Champions League is the 45th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 13th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner will particip ...

for the first time in their history. At the expiration of his season long loan at Heartland in August 2009, Akpan returned to his parent club Bayelsa United for the 2009–10 season, before they exited the

2009 CAF Confederation Cup The 2009 CAF Confederation Cup was the 6th edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa's secondary club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The competition began with the preliminary round stage in the ...

at the semi-finals. He rejoined Heartland ahead of the 2010-11 season, after Bayelsa United relegated at the end of 2009-10 NPFL season. He ended the season winning the 2011

Nigerian FA Cup The Nigeria Federation Cup is the main football (soccer), football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the States of Nigeria, 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, FCT of Nigeria. It is the ...

title. In October 2011, Akpan signed for

Vietnam first division The Vietnamese National Football First League (), known simply as the V.League 2 and for sponsorship purposes as Gold Star V.League 2, is the second-highest of the Vietnamese football league system after V.League 1, and is currently contested ...

club,

Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC Hoang Anh Gia Lai Football Club (), commonly known as Hoang Anh Gia Lai and simply known as HAGL, is a Vietnamese professional football club based in Pleiku, Gia Lai. Owned by Đoàn Nguyên Đức, a prominent Vietnamese businessman and found ...

for the

2012 V-League The 2012 V-League season was the 29th season of Vietnam's national football league and the 12th as a professional league. The season started on 31 December 2011 and finished on 19 August 2012. On 15 December it was announced that the league woul ...

season. He ended his debut season with the ''Best Goalkeeper Award'', following his outstanding performance in 20 league games, which propelled

to a fifth-place finish on a 14-team table. Akpan extended his stay with

for two seasons until 17 August 2014. He returned home to join Bayelsa United for the 2014-15 NPFL season, playing three games for the

Yenagoa Yenagoa is a Local Government Area and capital city of Bayelsa State, Southern Nigeria. It is located at the Niger-Delta region of the country at coordinates . The LGA has an area of 706 km2 and an estimated population of 798,466 at 2024. ...

-based club, before moving to Abia Warriors on loan for the rest of the season. He joined his hometown club,

Akwa United Akwa United Football Club is a Nigerian football (soccer), football club based in Uyo, in Akwa Ibom State. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first division of Nigerian football. The Godswill Akpabio International Stadium i ...

during the 2015-16 NPFL season. Before the commencement of the regular season, Akpan won the 2016 Super Four and the Nigeria Super Cup with the ''Promise Keepers''. He was part of the team during their maiden

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

campaign. He made 16 league appearances for the Uyo-based club including a vital goalless draw at Abia Warriors in a matchday 30 tie at Umuahia Township Stadium on 7 August 2016. Akpan signed for 2015-16 NPFL champions,

Enugu Rangers Rangers International Football Club, commonly known as Enugu Rangers, is a Nigerian professional association football team founded in 1970. Based in Enugu, the Rangers play their home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Enugu Rangers are one ...

during the midseason of the 2016-17 NPFL. Akpan joined Sunshine Stars FC for a second spell during the 2018-19 season and was unveiled alongside 23 others at the Ondo State Sports Complex on Saturday 19 January 2019. He did not feature for the ''Akure Gunners'' as they ended the 2018-19 abridged league season on the eighth position - one place above relegation zone.

International career

Akpan's exploits at the 1998 and 1999 Nike International Premier Cup in Paris and Barcelona, earned him an invitation to the Nigeria under-17 team for the 2001

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations The U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, is a biennial youth association football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for its nations consist ...

qualifiers in 2000. On 3 March 2001, he inspired the Golden Eaglets to its first continental title at the

2001 African U-17 Championship The 2001 African U-17 Championship was the 4th edition (9th if editions of the tournament without hosts are included) of the biennial youth association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for its nations, ...

in Seychelles with a 3–0 victory over

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

. At the

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

in Trinidad & Tobago, Akpan was voted Best Goalkeeper of the tournament due to his heroics in goal, despite the Golden Eaglets losing 3–0 to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the finals to settle for a silver medal. In 2002, he was involved with the Flying Eagles team that failed to qualify for the Burkina Faso 2003 CAF U-20 Championship. From June 2003 to March 2004, Akpan was a member of the Nigeria U-23 team and took part in the CAF qualifiers as the team failed to secure a ticket for the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics Men's football event In 2008, Bassey was in goal for the Home-based Super Eagles during the Ivory Coast 2009 African Nations Championship WAFU Zone B qualifiers, helping coach Okey Emordi led team to beat Burkina Faso 4–1 on aggregate in the first round, before losing 3–2 on aggregate to Ghana in the final qualifying round. He made his senior debut for the

Super Eagles The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in Men's international football. Governed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), they are three-time Africa Cup of Nations ( AFCON) winners, with their most recent title in 2013. In Febr ...

on 3 March 2010, as an 80th minute substitute for Shooting Stars goalkeeper, Segun Oluwaniyi in the 5–2 win over Congo DR in Abuja. Bassey manned the post for the coach

Samson Siasia Samson Siasia (born 14 August 1967) is a Nigerian former professional football striker and the former head coach of the Nigeria national team from 2010 to October 2011. He was reappointed in 2016. On 16 August 2019, FIFA banned Siasia from all ...

tutored Home-based Super Eagles during the second leg goalless draw with Niger in the Sudan 2011 African Nations Championship WAFU Zone B qualifier on 28 March 2010. He kept four matches for coach

Daniel Amokachi Daniel Owefin Amokachi (; born 30 December 1972) is a Nigerian football manager and former professional player. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier League for Everton and was part of their 1995 FA Cup winning team, ...

led homebased Super Eagles, as they went all the way to beat the Teranga Lions of Senegal 2–0 to claim the maiden edition of the

2010 WAFU Nations Cup The 2010 WAFU Nations Cup was the first edition of the WAFU Nations Cup, an association football tournament organised by the West African Football Union. The tournament was also held in 2002, but that edition was cancelled due to the civil war ...

at the MKO Abiola Stadium Abeokuta on Sunday, 18 April 2010. In May 2010, Akpan alongside Terna Suswam was the only home-based players named in Super Eagles' preparatory squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup by Coach Lars Lagerback, but did not make the final squad. He was a used substitute during the Super Eagles' 0–0 draw with Saudi Arabia in a pre-World Cup friendly in Austria on 25 May 2010. He also served as back up to goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba in the Super Eagles 2–1 loss to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in an international friendly at the

Suwon World Cup Stadium The Suwon World Cup Stadium (수원월드컵경기장) is a football stadium located in Suwon, South Korea. It has been home of the K League 2 team Suwon Samsung Bluewings since 2001. The capacity of the stadium is 44,031. Notable football events ...

, on 11 August 2010.

Honours

International

Nigeria U-17 *

winner:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

* CAF U-17 Championship winner:

Nigeria *

WAFU Nations Cup The WAFU Nations Cup (also known as the WAFU Cup of Nations or simply the WAFU Cup) is an association football competition that is contested by representative teams of the West African Football Union. History A trophy was commissioned by Presiden ...

winner:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Club

National

Bayelsa United *

Nigerian Professional Football League The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) (formerly the Nigeria Professional Football League) is the highest level of club football in Nigerian football league system. The Nigerian Premier League has suffered like many others, from the financ ...

winner: 2008-09 Heartland FC *

winner:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Akwa United * Nigeria Super Cup winner:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* Nigeria Super Four winner:

International

Heartland FC *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

runners up:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Individual

2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Championship 2001, the ninth edition of the tournament, was held from 13 to 30 September 2001 in the cities of Trinidad and Tobago; in Port of Spain, Malabar in Arima, Marabella in San Fernando, Couva, and Bacolet in Scarbo ...

Golden Glove winner *

Best Goalkeeper

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akpan, Bassey 1984 births Men's association football goalkeepers Heartland F.C. players Kwara United F.C. players Living people Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam Sunshine Stars F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Vietnam Nigeria men's international footballers Nigeria Professional Football League players Akwa United F.C. players Bayelsa United F.C. players Shooting Stars S.C. players Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC players V.League 1 players Footballers from Akwa Ibom State Abia Warriors F.C. players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen