Connally Edozien (born 26 June 1978) is a Nigerian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Playing career

Youth and College

Edozien was born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Nigeria, but spent much of his youth in London. He came to the United States in 1997 to attend

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is a private university focused on aviation and aerospace programs based in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, United States. It is the largest accredited university system specializing in ...

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...

, where he was an All-American and earned

Florida Sun Conference The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Eight of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with two in Georgia. The Sun Conference com ...

Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000. He was the Regional XIV Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000, as well as a four-time All-Region and All-Conference performer. Edozien is the all-time leader in points at Embry–Riddle.

Professional

After college, Edozian played for

FV Dresden-Nord SC Borea Dresden are a German association football club from the city of Dresden, Saxony. The club dropped the name ''FV Dresden-Nord'' on 1 July 2007 and adopted its current name to help encourage new sponsorship support. Boreas is the Greek g ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Germany. In March 2002, he signed with the

Cincinnati Riverhawks The Cincinnati Riverhawks were a professional soccer team that debuted in the USISL Premier Development League in 1997 and joined the A-League from 1998 to 2003. They played their games at Galbreath Field in Kings Mills, Ohio, and later at the ...

after impressing during a February 2002 trial. From 2003 to 2004 he also played for the

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastia (, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a French professional association football, football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football in France, ...

's reserves in France. In the fall of 2004, he signed with the

Cincinnati Excite The Cincinnati Excite were a semi-professional indoor soccer club which played in the American Indoor Soccer League. History The Excite are owned by David Galus, and took the American Indoor Soccer League season championship in the 2005/2006 s ...

in the

American Indoor Soccer League The American Indoor Soccer League was a semi-professional indoor soccer league founded in 2002 and folded in 2008. History Founded in 2002, the AISL's headquarters were in West Springfield, Massachusetts, but the media relations office was ...

. He caught the eye of the coach of the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League during an exhibition game between the Excite and Force. This led to the Force signing him to a five-game contract on 23 November 2004. He failed to score a goal and the team released him after four games. On 17 February 2005, he returned to the Excite, scoring two goals in the team's last two games of the season. He would also play the 2005–2006 winter indoor season with the Excite. On 21 March 2005, Edozien signed with the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. He played nine games, never scoring in league play, and was released at the end of the 2005 season. In 2006, he spent one season with the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American association football, soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-Major League Soccer ...

before moving to the

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Carolina Railhawks. On December 6, 2016, the RailH ...

in 2007. He led the team in scoring that season, but was traded to

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

in August 2008 in exchange for Eddie Gutierrez. In the fall of 2007, he signed with the expansion

Orlando Sharks The Orlando Sharks were a professional American indoor soccer team based in Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 censu ...

of MISL.

Coaching career

Beginning in 2007, Edozian became an assistant coach with the men's soccer team at

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

.Middle Tennessee coaching profile
In 2008, Edozien joined North Carolina's Triangle Futbol Club as head coach for the '94 Navy Ladies and the '93 Navy Men teams.

References

External links

Miami FC bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edozien, Connally 1978 births Living people Footballers from Lagos American Indoor Soccer League players American soccer coaches North Carolina FC players Cincinnati Excite players Cincinnati Riverhawks players Cleveland Force (2002–2005 MISL) players Expatriate men's footballers in France American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football forwards Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Major League Soccer players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (2006–2016) players Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders New England Revolution players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in France Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Orlando Sharks players Footballers from London Rochester Rhinos players A-League (1995–2004) players USL First Division players Association football coaches