Celestine Hycieth Babayaro (born 29 August 1978) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

or a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Babayaro spent the majority of his career playing in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, mainly for Chelsea from 1997 to 2005, and then later for Newcastle United, from 2005 to 2008. He had a brief stint at MLS club

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

, but never officially played for the club. He retired as a free agent in 2010. Babayaro represented the Nigeria national football team from 1995 to 2004 and was part of two Olympic squads, two World Cup squads and three African Cup of Nations squads.

Club career

Early career

Born in Kaduna, Babayaro began his playing career at Nigerian side Plateau United, before moving to Belgian club Anderlecht in 1994, and eventually would make a name for himself, quickly gaining first-choice status although still a teenager. Babayaro set records as the youngest player to make an appearance and to receive a red card in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. He was sent off in a match against Steaua București in a 1–1 draw, aged 16 years and 86 days.

Chelsea

Babayaro was signed by Chelsea after being spotted by scout Lewis Durkin in April 1997. He moved for a transfer fee of £2.25 million, a club record paid for a teenager at the time. He made his debut in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup against Slovan Bratislava, but an injury sustained in the 6–1 win over rivals Tottenham Hotspur in December 1997 ruled him out for the rest of the season. This meant he missed their victories in the 1998 Football League Cup final and the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final. However, with Chelsea he went on to win the 1998 UEFA Super Cup, the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and Charity Shield in 2000, and reached the 2002 FA Cup final. He was also instrumental in Chelsea's run in the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League. Babayaro was sent off in extra time against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, as they bowed out of the competition at the quarter final stage. He faced competition from Graeme Le Saux during his seven-year spell, but managed to play over 200 games for the club. His acrobatic celebrations with backflips were noted by the fans of the club. The steady form of Wayne Bridge saw Babayaro start only four FA

matches for Chelsea in 2004–05 under new manager

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

. Chelsea ended the season as Premier League champions.

Newcastle United

In January 2005, he left Chelsea to join Newcastle United on an undisclosed fee, where he established himself as first-choice left-back. He scored his first and what turned out to be his only Newcastle goal in a 3–1 win over Coventry City in the

. In September 2006, Babayaro was given a three-match ban by

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

for slapping

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

striker Dirk Kuyt in the face, while Liverpool took a corner. The slap was not seen by the referee Mark Halsey, but later footage showed Babayaro punch the Dutchman in the face. Babayaro accepted the allegations and apologised to Kuyt.

On 10 February 2007, after a 2–1 win over Liverpool, then-Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder revealed that just 12 hours before kick-off, Babayaro had called him saying his younger brother David had died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Despite this, Babayaro insisted he would still play and put in a solid performance which earned him praise from Roeder and the fans. This fine form continued into United's 3–1 away victory against Zulte Waregem, in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. Due to his many injury problems it was mutually decided, on 10 December 2007, that Babayaro should be released from his contract with immediate effect and a compensation figure was agreed. In January 2009, former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd described Babayaro as a "disgrace" who "didn't pull his weight" during a televised BBC interview.

Later career

On 21 January 2008, 30-year-old Babayaro came to an agreement with the

to join them on a three-year contract, effective immediately. With this move, the Nigerian re-joined Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit who previously brought him to Chelsea in 1997 and spent a season coaching him there. This time again, it was the recently hired Gullit who wanted Babayaro at his new club. However, it did not take long for the move to turn sour. Thinking that he had arrived at sort of an American superclub that only a year earlier gave David Beckham what was widely reported to be the $250 million contract, Babayaro was agitated by what he considered to be "shabby" accommodations – from having to fly in the economy class to sharing a hotel room on the road. His lack of commitment in training and preseason games reflected those feelings, and he soon got on Gullit's and club president and general manager Alexi Lalas's bad side. On 3 March, Babayaro was waived by the Galaxy after playing only 45 minutes in a preseason friendly against

FC Seoul FC Seoul () is a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS G ...

, receiving a yellow card and conceding a penalty in the process. The reason for this unexpected release was not stated explicitly by Galaxy front office. "After a period of evaluation, it was decided that it would be in the best interest of the club and the player to part ways," Lalas said in a statement. "It is unfortunate that it did not work out, but Ruud and our technical staff are hard at work putting together this team and difficult decisions have to be made." During pre-season for the 2008–09 English league season, Babayaro trained with

club

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at the invitation of manager Harry Redknapp with a view to signing for the

holders. On 14 August 2008, Redknapp revealed that he would not offer Babayaro a contract at Fratton Park. On 8 July 2010, Babayaro officially announced his retirement from football.

International career

After being part of the victorious Nigerian team at the Under-17 World Championships in 1993, Babayaro made his international senior debut in the Afro-Asian Cup of Nations in 1995, against

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. The following year, he was part of the Nigeria Olympic

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

winning team at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, making the tournament's all-star team. He scored in the gold medal game itself against Argentina. After getting a knee injury in December 1997 in the Premier League, Babayaro recovered just in time to make the France 98 squad. He was also Nigeria's captain at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

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, and took part in the Korea/Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup. Babayaro was part of Nigeria's squad for the 2004 African Nations Cup in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, but was controversially sent home, alongside Yakubu and Victor Agali for indiscipline. Although never officially announcing his retirement from international football, his final appearance from the national team was against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in a group stage match.

Personal life

Celestine Babayaro's brother, Emmanuel, a goalkeeper, was also part of Nigeria's 1996 Olympics gold medal-winning team. Babayaro was acquitted of indecent assault in 1999. He later sued the '' Daily Star'' for a headline suggesting he had been charged with rape and won an apology and damages. He was declared bankrupt in 2011.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Anderlecht * Belgian First Division: 1994–95 * Belgian Super Cup: 1995 Chelsea * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1997–98 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

: 1998 *

: 1999–2000 * FA Charity Shield:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Nigeria U17 * FIFA U-17 World Championship: 1993 Nigeria U23 * Olympic Gold Medal: 1996 Nigeria * African Cup of Nations third place:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Individual * Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year: 1994–95, 1995–96 * Ebony Shoe Award: 1996

References

External links

*
Babayaro's profile at Sports-Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babayaro, Celestine 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players Belgian Pro League players Chelsea F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics LA Galaxy players Newcastle United F.C. players Nigeria men's international footballers Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Footballers from Kaduna Premier League players Olympic footballers for Nigeria Olympic gold medalists for Nigeria R.S.C. Anderlecht players 1978 births Living people Plateau United F.C. players Olympic medalists in football Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Men's association football fullbacks