Emmanuel Ekpo (born 20 December 1987) 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 ...

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

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and winger.

Career

Professional

Ekpo spent his early years in the youth system of Calabar Rovers, before going on to play professionally for

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 ...

and

Enyimba Aba is a city in southeastern Nigeria. It lies along the west bank of the Aba River and is at the intersection of roads leading to settlements such as Port Harcourt, Owerri, Umuahia, Ikot Ekpene, and Ikot-Abasi. Aba was established by t ...

in the

Nigerian Premier 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 ...

. Ekpo signed a contract with

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

on 15 April 2008, and scored an impressive first goal for the Crew on 28 June 2008, in a game against

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

. 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. In February 2012 he signed with

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

of Norway, managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, on a three-year contract through 2014. After two and a half seasons with Molde, Ekpo moved to

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

in July 2014, leaving Haugesund after the 2014 season when his contract expired. In October 2016, Ekpo joined

Eastern Suburbs AFC Eastern Suburbs Association Football Club is an association football club based in the suburb of Kohimarama in Auckland, New Zealand. The club competes in the Northern League. Club history Eastern Suburbs was formed in 1934 as a result of ...

in New Zealand.

International

Ekpo participated in

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

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

Honors

;Columbus Crew *

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 ...

MLS Cup:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Supporter's Shield:

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 ...

;Molde *

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekpo, Emmanuel 1987 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Columbus Crew players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Akwa United F.C. players Olympic footballers for Nigeria Calabar Rovers F.C. players Olympic silver medalists for Nigeria Enyimba F.C. players Olympic medalists in football Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major League Soccer players Molde FK players FK Haugesund players Eliteserien players Eastern Suburbs AFC players New Zealand National League players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen